Ame no Murakumo ga Miteru: Red String
by DezoPenguin
Summary: In a future lifetime, they will once again meet and fall in love. Where that destiny leaves off, begins what they, their friends, and their family will have to make of it.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: This is not a crossover between _Kannazuki no Miko _and _Maria-sama ga Miteru_. Rather, it's the beginning of an open-ended series of stories in which I wanted to combine the leads of _KnM_ with the idea of having an ensemble drama. In essence, Chikane and Himeko would be the "Red Roses" of the series, the central and most important part of the cast, but not the only one, with the supporting cast of OCs and canon immigrants also having central roles in occasional stories._

_This story is also _not _an AU. The idea of "Chikane and Himeko's Ordinary School Life" as an AU concept has been taken up by a variety of writers already, and I don't want to re-travel ground already taken. Besides, to me the central drama of their resurrection, their fights, and their tragic history overcome at last is what makes the _Kannazuki_ leads different from other schoolgirl yuri pairings. Without it, they're Sachiko and Yumi, Shizuma and Nagisa, Natsuki (no, not _that_ Natsuki) and Fuyuka...whomever. Don't expect any actual Orochi to show up to be fought here, since that's completely not the point...but these are, in fact, the _same_ Himeko and Chikane as are in the initial story (the manga, not the anime, incidentally; I like that version of Chikane better, and I also like the fact that in the manga, I know what rules future lives play by instead of having to apply a set of rules of my own to the anime ending's intentional ambiguity), so they're not going to be starting from the same place as they originally did. You'll see!_

_Technically, this story is actually a sequel to my _Kannazuki no Shimai_ story...it's the lifetime after that one. You don't need to know anything about that story other than what's actually mentioned here, though._

_On honorifics: Unlike my previous _Kannazuki no Miko _fic efforts, I have actually attempted to leave in the honorifics, since these are Japanese characters living in Japan and, presumably, talking Japanese which is only represented in English here due to the fact that the author is an American. The hair-pulling started almost immediately, since I didn't like the idea of having Himeko say, "Chikane-chan!" while everybody else was calling people by what they'd call them in normal English. So I have attempted to have _everybody_ use Japanese forms of address in _all_ the dialogue. I'm utterly sure that I screwed something up somewhere...the kendo club in Chapter 2, for example. I invite any native speakers of Japanese to point fingers and laugh (and correct me) when they see me foul things up._

_So, imagine that, perhaps, Ame no Murakumo has kindly given the miko a vacation lifetime where they can live out their days normally, and return to the peaceful fairytale of Mahoroba once more..._

~ X X X ~

The burgundy-and-white school uniform, with its over-elaborate string tie, leg-o-mutton sleeves, black tights, and double row of gold buttons, gave her a warm, nostalgic feeling as she walked through the halls of Ototachibana Academy. She was only half-listening to the teacher who was guiding her, instead caught up in the flood of memories brought back by these so familiar halls that she'd never walked.

"And this will be your homeroom," he concluded, stopping in front of a door. She only belatedly realized that he _had_ stopped and almost crashed into him on account of it, then nearly slipped and fell when she halted just in time, but regained her balance by bracing her hand against the wall.

"I'm sorry, Fujieda-sensei."

He shook his head.

"It's all right to be a bit nervous, but don't worry. I'm sure that you'll enjoy your time here at Ototachibana Academy."

"Yes, thank you, sensei."

He knocked on the door, then stepped inside, where he spoke briefly to the teacher who was already present and provided her with some paperwork. He then turned back to the girl, smiled, and said, "Good luck!"

Her homeroom teacher, a slim woman with glasses and dark hair in a pageboy cut, let her into the room. At her request the girl wrote her name on the blackboard, forming the characters in a slightly childish hand.

"Class," the teacher announced, "we are joined by a new transfer student starting today. I hope that you will make her feel welcome." She turned to the girl, who introduced herself.

"Good morning," she said a little nervously as she faced the class full of her fellow second-years. "My name is Kurusugawa Himeko. It's nice to meet you, and I—" She stopped, her heart in her throat, suddenly paralyzed by the sight of two robin's-egg-blue eyes. "Ch-Chikane-chan?"

Smoothly, the owner of those eyes rose from her seat, imparting the simple movement with an elegant grace. Long blue-black hair was held off her face by a headband and fell to the back of her knees. Her skin was porcelain-pale, her features fine-boned and beautiful, her figure sleek and womanly, every bit of her exactly as Himeko had carried in her memory for the past sixteen years. Himeko's legs shook a little; the longing that welled up in her was nearly overwhelming and it was all she could do to keep from rushing across the room and seizing the beauty in her arms and sobbing out her joy at seeing her again. Indeed, only the knowledge of the embarrassment it would cause Chikane kept her from doing exactly that.

"Morishima-sensei, there is an empty seat next to me where Kurusugawa-san could sit. I would be happy to assist her become accustomed to our school."

"Very well, Himemiya-san. Kurusugawa-san, Himemiya Chikane-san is our class president and will be more than capable of introducing you to whatever you need."

"Yes, thank you, sensei."

Himeko wasn't quite sure how she managed to walk between the rows of students, girls in burgundy-and-white and boys in viridian blue. She was faintly aware of the curious looks and low whispers but only distantly, like a painted backdrop on a stage set. She couldn't help but extend a hand, though, and Chikane's fingers curled around hers, cool and soft, a sweetly remembered touch she'd never felt, and her eyes brimmed with tears of joy.

"I missed you, Himeko," was all Chikane said, but her smile nearly made the other girl burst with happiness. Not surprisingly, there were a number of interested or surprised looks, but the girl seated behind Chikane, a ponytailed redhead, was staring at them with an utterly overwhelmed expression.

To say that Himeko's morning passed by in a blur did not describe the half of it. She barely was aware of anything beyond Chikane's presence, the part of her missing since birth finally found. The lunch bell's ringing jolted her out of a haze, and Chikane slipped from her seat and leaned close enough to murmur three words, "The rose garden," before blending with the crowd.

It was still there, just as she remembered it, the shining brass fence and the hedge of multicolored rose bushes. Even the gap between bushes where the trunks were far enough apart to allow a body to pass through was right where it was supposed to be. Himeko crawled through without hesitation. There was the stately English oak at the center of the circular clearing, its branches heavy with the fresh green leaves of spring. And beneath it...

"Chikane-chan!"

"Himeko!"

There were no more words; words were superfluous and could certainly wait until later. Himeko scrambled to her feet and flung herself at the taller girl and Chikane caught her, their arms closing tightly around each other and their mouths crushing together fiercely, not the gentle brushing of lips as might be expected of sixteen-year-old maidens but a kiss of passionate longing, a need for intimacy pent-up since before they'd been born. Their hands tightened in cloth, grabbing fistfuls of their uniforms to hold each other as close as possible and murmured endearments every time they paused for breath before leaning in to capture each other's sweetness again.

A rustling in the hedge disturbed their momentary idyll, surprising them and making them drop the kiss. Himeko would have broken the embrace, too, but Chikane kept a firm grip on her waist and if her beloved didn't want to let go then she didn't see a reason why she herself should have to be denied even a moment of holding Chikane. In the next instant the redhead who'd been in the desk behind Chikane squirmed through the gap in the hedge.

"Um, wow, third wheel to the max, huh?" she said, looking at the two of them, then shot an accusing look at Chikane. "You _said_ to give you two fifteen minutes before I came barging in. And _you_!" She turned to Himeko. "I can't believe you really exist! I mean, there's not some hidden camera crew ready to pounce, right?"

Himeko blinked.

"Huh?"

"Miya's famous Himeko! Well, not really famous, since Miya only talks about you to me and sometimes Saya and Arrow, but the principle applies. I mean, seriously, some dream lover out of a past life destined to find her? Not big on the believability scale, y'know. Oh, I'm Alice Ishida." She stuck out a hand, Western-style, while Himeko tentatively shook.

"It's...nice to meet you, Ishida-san?" she said hesitantly.

"Alice is a Canadian of Japanese descent," Chikane explained, having no trouble with the pronunciation of the foreign name.

"We're a branch family, so my great-granddad decided to seek his fortune in foreign lands, but my dad ended up being the heir to the main line so we came back when I was ten."

"She's also been by best friend since she first came here."

The significance of that simple statement took a couple of seconds to sink in, but when it did, combined with the fact that Alice apparently knew something about _her_, Himeko could feel herself break into a huge smile.

"You've got a real friend, Chikane-chan? I'm so happy!" Her hands slid up from waist to shoulders and she gave Chikane a crushing hug. Chikane laughed, and Alice scratched her head.

"Um...why is that a big deal?"

Himeko didn't want to answer because it was Chikane's private business, but Chikane herself spoke up.

"Himeko...isn't used to me having friends, not genuine ones."

"She would always keep people at arm's length," Himeko elaborated, omitting some of the more painful details.

"Oh, yeah, she certainly does that. Total princess material."

Himeko giggled while Chikane just sighed. It was so _weird_ to see Chikane letting someone else slip inside the armor of her reserve, the polished perfection that she used to keep the world at bay, but it was neat, too. It meant that slowly, gradually, the elegant girl was putting her shattered soul back together. And best of all, Chikane understood at once what it was that had so moved Himeko!

"We...should have lunch," Chikane said. She'd already laid out a blanket on the grass so the girls could sit down without getting stains on their skirts, and the three of them sat, Chikane and Himeko with their backs to the tree, their hips touching, and Alice on Chikane's far side but with a little separation between them and turned sideways towards the two. Himeko and Chikane got out their lunch boxes but Alice didn't seem to have one.

"Do you want some of my lunch, Ishida-san?" Himeko offered at once, but Alice waved it off.

"Nah, I scarfed a yakisoba roll while I was waiting for you guys to finish smooching. Nice of you to ask, though. And call me Alice, okay? Half my life here and I still can't get used to all this formality."

"All right, Arisu-chan," Himeko said.

"But really, you're as nice as Miya says you are. I mean, not only have you known me for all of thirty seconds but I'm butting in on your lovey-dovey moment and yet you're still offering to share lunch?"

Himeko blushed.

"Um...if you don't mind, what else did Chikane-chan say about me?"

Alice grinned.

"Mind? Miss a free shot at embarrassing the living daylights out of the perfect Miya-sama? Himeko, girl, you've handed me a gift on a silver platter!" She laced her fingers together and stretched like an athlete stretching to warm up.

"First off, she described you physically so perfectly that it was like I'd seen a photo of you, which is why I was gaping at you when you came in this morning. Okay, she exaggerated the cuteness a little bit, but she's in love so we can excuse that, while as to details...She says you're sweet and nice to the point of being a little naive and that you're always willing to undergo discomfort for somebody else's sake. On the other hand, you're not always sensitive to what other people are feeling—although you're getting better!—so it's important to be as honest to you as you are to everyone else. And you are honest; even if you try to lie it shows up right on your face for everyone to see. You're a little bit clumsy and easily scared or surprised, but when the going gets tough you'll see things through to the end no matter how hard or painful it gets, and that even when bad things happen you'll brush them aside and move on, and support her too into the bargain." Grinning, Alice added, "She also said that you're a little bit ditzy, not great in school, but that you have an excellent artistic eye, are good at photography, and that we should draft you for the kendo team even though you're generally poor at sports and don't like hitting people."

"You make me sound like some kind of amazing person. I'm not, really," Himeko said, really embarrassed.

"Hey, you captured the heart of the girl whom ninety percent of the boys and half the girls dream of at night. I'd call that amazing. Be prepared for a fair whack of jealousy—though you'll also get a good bit of worship-by-proxy."

Alice turned on Chikane, who was serenely eating her lunch, a little smile on her face.

"And you! Why aren't you even a little embarrassed, after I'm spilling all the gushing-over-the-girlfriend-you-don't-have bits to the girl in question?"

"Himeko knows how I feel about her," she said calmly. There's nothing to surprise her. And she knows the very worst of me, much more than you do."

"Oh, please, like you've ever done a contemptible thing in your life."

"Not in this life, perhaps."

"That is so weird. And then _you_ show up," Alice exclaimed, pointing at Himeko, "and prove her _right_. It's not normal, I tell you!" She was grinning while she said it, though, making clear that she wasn't in any way angry or annoyed. "On the other hand, Saya now owes me dinner at _Maison Blanc et Noir_."

"Oh, is that still here?" Himeko asked. She and Chikane had shared a few dates at the French restaurant in their past lives.

That was at the heart of it, of course. In _this_ life Himeko had never before met Chikane or been to Mahoroba, but the two shrine maidens of Ame no Murakumo had been reborn many times whenever the malice of the world would give rise to the dark god Yamata no Orochi. They would fight to seal the darkness away, and then one of them would sacrifice the life of the other to revive the shattered world. That fate had exacted a fearful toll on their minds and souls, but then they'd fallen in love with one another and through that had come to redeem their strange fate. "Bound by chains of destiny" wasn't such a scary phrase if it meant she'd inevitably be drawn together with her beloved, or that between lives they could share what she thought of as their own private corner of Heaven. Himeko didn't think it was a coincidence that it was the two lives before this one she could properly remember while the others were nothing more than misty dreams at best, because it was two lives past they'd found each other's hearts at last.

"Yes, although the food isn't quite as good," Chikane told her. "As for you, Alice, you have a bet with Saya-chan over Himeko's existence?" She arched one dark eyebrow at the redhead.

"Yep! You'll note, of course, that I was on your side as to whether she'd show up."

Chikane sighed, shaking her head, while Himeko giggled.

"Saya's my girlfriend, by the way," Alice explained. "We'll have to introduce you to her and to Arrow."

"Arrow?"

"Another friend. That's a nickname, by the way, but we all call her that, even Miya."

"Oh. All right."

Alice laughed.

"What, not even curious as to where the nickname came from?"

In truth, she was, just because it was kind of unusual—something to do with archery, since she was one of Chikane's friends?—but Himeko hadn't thought it was her place to ask since she'd only just met Alice and hadn't yet met Arrow at all.

Besides which, anything other than her reunion with Chikane was a distant second place. She'd spent over sixteen years of her life dealing with things that were _not_ Chikane, and she felt she had given them enough of her time.

Himeko caught up a tiny sausage in her chopsticks and extended it to Chikane, who immediately returned the favor with a piece of sweet omelet, their gazes meeting as they fed each other.

"Aw, how cute," Alice teased them shamelessly.

"Do you absolutely have to do that?" Chikane wondered.

"You know as well as I do that I'm not here for the introductions so much as to keep you two from ending up rolling around in the grass."

Himeko felt herself blush bright red at Alice's frankness, and even Chikane's cheeks were graced by a light pink flush. The red-haired girl had a point, too, because the girls were long-time lovers—two lifetimes' worth, and two intervals between life as well, in the timeless, dream-like idylls spent between rebirths in the Shrine of the Moon—and sixteen years was a long time to do without! Himeko decided that she was very glad that Alice had a girlfriend, too.

She then sighed and leaned her head up against Chikane's shoulders, just savoring the other girl's closeness. What was the point, after all, of denying something that was so obviously true?

"Wow, you're the really honest type, aren't you?" Alice marveled. "Chikane was totally right about you; your emotions show up on your face the instant you feel them."

Chikane tipped her head, resting her cheek against Himeko's hair.

"Yes, she's always been like that."

"Okay, I'd better tell you right away, then. Saya and I are...well, we're pretty much in the closet about our relationship, except with Miya and Arrow and now you. Her family's pretty traditional and while we're still in school they've got a lot of power to break us up, so she wants to just wait until we're at least in college to reveal our relationship, since she won't be dependent on them then."

"That's sad," Himeko said. In their past life she and Chikane had had to hide their feelings, too, although that had been because they were sisters as opposed to just lesbians. She hadn't liked essentially having to lie, though it was Chikane who had been most bothered by it, probably because she'd spent so much of the lifetime prior to that having to stifle expressing her feelings for Himeko. "I won't say anything, then. Um...is your family, too...?"

Alice shook her head.

"Nah. Honestly, my dad'd shrug and go 'whatever,' and my mom would probably throw me a coming-out party. Mom was always a liberal but since we moved to Japan she'd been steadily moving even farther to the left, I guess as a reaction to the country being pretty conservative."

"I see."

Alice shot her a grin.

"Nah, you don't, but you will when you get to meet her. Anyway, the point's just to, y'know, keep it low-key about us when there's other people around."

"I will. But...um, I'm really not a very good liar..."

"So if you get asked directly the truth will be written all over your face?" Alice shrugged. "You do what you can."

Himeko sighed with relief.

"Thank you, Arisu-chan."

"Ah, no sweat. You gave Miya more real smiles this morning than I've seen out of her this past couple of months, so I owe you."

"Am I truly so difficult, Alice?" Chikane asked, her serene _ojousama_ smile firmly in place, making the blonde and the redhead both laugh—before Himeko and Alice looked at one another, grinned, and broke into laughter again.

"Okay, _that's_ scary," Alice wheezed. "There's someone else who can tell when you're making a joke, Chikane!"

"It took her a while to learn, but yes."

Alice shook her head.

"Reincarnated lovers...must be nice, particularly when you remember all the old stuff so you don't have to start from scratch."

"It was one of Himeko's best ideas," Chikane agreed.

The lunch bell chose that minute to ring, calling the students back to class. The girls scrambled to pack away half-finished lunches that they'd been distracted by from their talk, and were barely able to make it back to the classroom before Hayashiya-sensei arrived for trigonometry.

The rest of the day passed nearly as quickly as the morning had; if anything Himeko was even more distracted. The anxiety over their meeting, all the questions to be asked, had been replaced by a kind of dreamy hearts-and-flowers-and-rainbows haze that only was broken up when she was called upon. Since Himeko was at best an indifferent student in anything besides art, she wasn't able to cover for herself very well, even moving Chikane to giggles more than once.

_Everyone must think I'm a total ditz_, Himeko thought, though it did very little to dampen her spirits. There was almost nothing that _could_ have depressed her on Reunion With Chikane Day.

Chikane proved to be as popular as she'd always been; she was all but swarmed after the final bell with people seeking help or talking about student government or one of her various club activities. She handled them with her usual deftness, fending them off with the princess-like manner Himeko knew so well. No more than fifteen minutes had passed before the two of them were walking across the Academy courtyard, past the fountain and towards the towering staircase that led down the face of the hill, passing the lower tiers where the dorms and other buildings were located.

"Are you living in the dorms again?" Chikane asked.

Himeko shook her head.

"Mm-mmn. My family lives in town, so I live at home."

"I'm sorry; I haven't asked you a thing about your life up until now."

"Neither have I!" Himeko protested, to deflect the idea that Chikane had anything to reproach herself over.

"It just seemed so much more important that we're together now that I didn't think of anything else. But...you've been happy?" she asked with a hint of worry.

"Except for not having you," Himeko said. Belatedly she realized that it was a horribly sappy answer, like something out of a romance movie, but it was the truth.

"I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"I think it may have been my fault. I...when I chose this new world at the end of our last lives I wasn't sure how you'd react to me."

"Because you killed me? I thought we'd settled that."

"We did, but that came after. So...I think the separation was because I wasn't sure if being together was the right way."

"I see." Himeko thought it over, then broke into a bright smile. "Well, you'll just have to make it up to me. Do you know any good love hotels?"

"Himeko!"

The blonde giggled. She'd always been much more comfortable than Chikane with the physical side of their relationship, something that she consciously tried to emphasize. Chikane had carried a lot of guilt and shame over her desires, so Himeko wanted to make sure that Chikane was fully aware that she was completely comfortable with being the object of those desires. And if Chikane was feeling guilty over any responsibility she had for their separation, then it certainly couldn't hurt to give her a sharp reminder that Himeko wasn't holding any grudges.

Then it struck her that there might be another reason for Chikane's shock besides her usual reticence, a much more practical reason. She was, after all, a daughter of the Himemiya family, as close to nobility as the modern world held.

"Should I...not say things like that?" Himeko asked. "Would it make trouble for you if people overhear?" She'd have come out and said, _Do you want to keep our relationship a secret?_ if that wouldn't defeat the entire purpose of asking. Chikane would understand, though.

And it wasn't like Himeko wasn't used to it. In their previous life, they'd been twin sisters, so their romance _had_ to be kept secret since anyone who wasn't aware of their past-life history would have regarded them with disgust or pity. In the life before that, Chikane had even kept their _friendship_ hidden, because...well, actually Himeko didn't really know the reason, though she suspected it had to do with Chikane's role as an Orochi Neck or Chikane's worry over having more-than-friendly feelings for Himeko or both. So if Chikane's circumstances were like those of Alice's girlfriend, that was all right with Himeko.

"Wait," Chikane said, stopping. "Are you asking me—?"

"I'll let you decide, Chikane-chan. I don't know anyone here in Mahoroba yet, so I don't have any concerns."

Chikane smiled.

"You mean, you'll let me decide what I want people to think about the two of us?"

"Mmn!"

"All right, but if you're going to let me choose you have to promise that you won't have any regrets."

"Of course I won't!" Himeko rarely regretted anything, so it was an easy promise.

"Good."

And then, as the students of Ototachibana Academy streamed past them, Chikane cupped the back of Himeko's head and lowered her mouth to her lover's in an eager, insistent kiss.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Thank you to everyone who's read and reviewed! A special shout-out goes to Avarenda (for spotting the main plotline of this story) and to MissGardenia, for recognizing what was going to happen this chapter!_

~X X X~

Himeko walked steadily up the winding steps that led up the hill to Ototachibana Academy. She was sure there was some reason why it was built there, possibly for some mystic symbolism or perhaps just because it looked impressive in photographs and news stories, but she definitely would have been happier if she didn't have to climb several hundred steps to get to the top. That was one thing she hadn't missed about living in Mahoroba.

_I'll pretend I'm a hero on a quest! If I get to the top, I can be with Chikane-chan!_ Chikane was, after all, a kind of princess, so she thought the metaphor worked.

There were other students on the stairs, of course, some coming from town like Himeko and others from the school dorms. Some walked alone, others in pairs, and still more in clusters of friends, most faster than Himeko and a few slower. Many of them turned to look when they passed or were passed by her. She found that a little surprising, since she'd always been a bit of a shrinking violet who didn't attract attention. Only when she began to listen to what people were saying, sometimes in hissed whispers and other times in normal, even raised voices, did it start to make sense to her.

_"That's her, isn't it?"_

_"I can't believe it!"_

_"She's the one who...?"_

_"It's true; I saw it myself!"_

_"Kasuga-kun told me that..."_

_"But...Miya-sama?"_

_"How could she do that to her?"_

_"I'm jealous!"_

_"It's disgusting!"_

_"How could someone like _that..._?"_

Chikane had kissed her right out in the open, making no secret of it. Himeko had told her love that they could be open or hidden about their relationship as Chikane chose, and Chikane had chosen to conceal nothing.

_"I think it's romantic!"_

_"What do they think they're doing?"_

_"This isn't some all-girls school, where they can play those kind of games."_

Rumor, it seemed, traveled fast. Himeko should have expected it; while she herself might not draw second looks, Chikane was the heiress of the Himemiya family, the student council president, the kendo team captain, the top-ranked student, and besides all that her beauty, elegance, and grace made her the school idol. It had been no different in the lifetimes when Chikane lacked social postion; she was always _Miya-sama_ by force of character alone.

_No wonder it took most of a lifetime to convince me that she could love me_, Himeko thought. "Dating out of her league" didn't even begin to cover it. And yet it was Chikane who was the fragile one, Chikane who in so many ways was desperately dependent on Himeko. Like yin and yang, their strengths complemented each other, providing for when the other was weak.

"Hey!"

Himeko windmilled for balance, having been so lost in thought that she'd walked right into another girl.

"Oh! I'm sorry," she apologized as she stabilized herself, wobbling but staying upright.

"You think you're so high and mighty that you can just walk through people when they're talking to you?"

Himeko blinked. The girl had been talking to her?

"I'm sorry," she repeated. "I didn't hear you."

This just seemed to make her angrier. She scowled at Himeko, her hands planted on her hips. Her corkscrew curls, a dirty-blonde or light brown shade, quivered with her irritation.

"Do you hear that, girls? She doesn't even acknowledge when other people are talking to her! She thinks that just because she got her hooks into Miya-sama, that she can do whatever she wants!"

Himeko realized that the curly-haired girl wasn't alone; she was flanked by a petite girl with short green hair and a taller, curvier one who had a thin, angular face emphasized by her long brown French braid.

"If someone like you thinks they can put their hands on Miya-sama, you've got another think coming," the leader snapped. "A disgusting pervert who waltzes into our school and thinks that she can just act like that! Miya-sama may be too polite to put you in your place, but we won't let you take advantage of her good nature."

Now Himeko understood. These were some of Chikane's fans, girls who idolized her in the same way as they would an actress or music star. They were probably a little bit in love with her themselves, or at least with the illusion of her that they'd built up in their own minds, but it was really more of a case of admiration, idealization. The idea of Miya-sama having a homosexual relationship, or of dating anyone, really, who wasn't themselves special and spectacular, appalled them, like splashing mud on a painting. They didn't want to believe their idol could have feet of clay and so would bully and abuse anyone who threatened to spoil their image of the perfect Miya-sama. Himeko knew their type pretty well by now; Chikane had attracted them through multiple lifetimes.

"You really don't understand Chikane-chan at all, do you?" Himeko said, shaking her head. She felt a little sorry for these girls, whose feelings were so intense but based on nothing more than a delusion, a ghost that Chikane had created to keep people at bay. Even in this new life, where Chikane had found real friends instead of living solely through Himeko, things like this happened.

"'Chikane-chan!'" the green-haired girl yelped. "What presumption, to call Miya-sama 'Chikane-chan' like she was one of your commoner friends!"

"We should teach her a lesson, Otoha-chan," the girl with the braid agreed.

The leader nodded sharply.

"She needs one, that's plain." Her hand flicked out and swatted Himeko's schoolbag out of her hand. It popped open when it hit the stone steps, spilling books and papers. The three girls closed in, and Himeko tried to figure out what she should do, but was saved the trouble.

"Oi! What, is your little rat pack up to no good again, Otoha?"

The three fangirls spun to see who'd spoken. A few steps up, a tall girl with close-cut black hair was sneering contemptuously at them, her arms crossed over her chest. She wasn't "pretty" in the conventional sense, but the strong lines of her face made her striking and attractive in an androgynously handsome way.

"I've told you before about pulling this crap with people. Are you too stupid to listen or just too crazy to stop yourself?"

"What business is it of yours, Ohgami-_kun_?" the leader sneered at her. "While I'd expect a butch like you to stick up for a pervert like this, I—"

In a flash, Ohgami's hand was fastened around Otoha's wrist.

"I'd suggest you drop it right there," she snapped. Himeko could tell that she was applying pressure; it was all Otoha could do to keep from whimpering. "Got it?"

"I...I..." She yanked her hand back. "Don't think we'll forget this, Ohgami Shizuka!" Otoha yelped to protect her pride, and the three fangirls scampered on up the stairs. A few spontaneous cheers burst out from the students around them, and one boy called out, "That's telling those bitches, Ohgami-san!" which made Himeko blush.

"Here, let me help with that," Ohgami said, bending over to pick up some of Himeko's school belongings. The two girls quickly got everything picked up and stuffed back into Himeko's bag. "Oh, and I'm Ohgami Shizuka, but you can just call me Arrow." So this was the Arrow that Chikane and Alice had mentioned! She handed the packed bag back to Himeko, but kept on staring at her for a long moment.

"Um, is there something on my face?"

"Nah." She shook her head as if to clear it. "It's just...I mean, you're _real_, right? Alice told me how you looked just like how Himemiya said you would, but it's just too damn weird to believe, y'know? She even got the name right! It _is_ Kurusugawa-san, right?"

"You can call me Himeko, Arrow-san," the blonde offered.

"Thanks; your family name's kind of a mouthful."

"I suppose it is. Thank you very much for helping me, Arrow-san."

She waved a hand.

"Nah, no problem. Alice and I have to remind those twits this isn't some shoujo manga cliché world every so often. Breaks up the monotony."

"Um, would you do me another favor, then, Arrow-san, and please don't tell Chikane-chan anything about this?"

Arrow laughed.

"Hell, Himeko, you didn't even need to ask that one. Bodies are heavy, and as a friend I'd have to help hide them, y'know."

Himeko grinned back.

"Oh, good, you do understand." A couple of lifetimes ago, she reflected, they wouldn't have been joking.

"Once in junior high, some stupid bitch went and spread a bunch of nasty lying rumors about Alice because she's Canadian or something equally idiotic and Himemiya pretty much made it impossible for her to exist at school; she transferred out within a week. I don't even want to know what she'd do if she ever wanted to get down to serious revenge."

"She's very fierce in protecting the people she cares about," Himeko agreed, deciding to spare Arrow some of the specifics. Besides, it wasn't like the things she did during _Kannazuki_ really counted, since the two priestesses were the only ones who remembered the events of the Godless Month after time rewound and the world was remade. Wanting to change the subject, she said, "Your nickname is very unusual, Arrow-san. Are you an archer?"

"Me? Nah, I do karate. It's just Himemiya, Alice, and Nanase who call me that, but I figure you count, too."

"Nanase?"

"Nanase Saya."

"Oh, Arisu-chan's..."

"Girlfriend, yeah. They're my best friends, and the people I hang out with most often, but while Himemiya and Nanase are lesbians and Alice goes both ways but is dating a girl, I'm straight—"

"—as an arrow!" Himeko figured out, clapping her hands in a childish gesture of glee.

Arrow chuckled.

"Yep. Hard as it may be to believe, I'm strictly interested in boys."

Himeko shook her head.

"It isn't hard at all. Just because a person looks or acts a certain way doesn't mean that they have to have a certain set of other preferences."

"Now if somebody could only teach the guys around here that lesson." She sighed. "The ones who don't think I swing your way figure I'm not into anything girly. Himemiya doesn't even _like_ guys and she could kick all their butts lots faster than I ever could, but they still line up to ask _her_ out."

"Well, Chikane-chan really is beautiful and elegant, just like a real princess, so it's only natural that the boys would...want...to..."

Arrow groaned.

"You, too?"

"Sorry!" Himeko's hands fluttered frantically. "I didn't mean it like that, honestly I didn't!"

"You're not saying anything I didn't know already. 'Shizuka'—ha! I think my parents were testing out their sense of humor when they named me that."

Himeko had to admit that Arrow didn't seem very quiet at all, but decided to say nothing this time. She also decided that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to mention that Arrow reminded her very much of another Ohgami, from one of her past lives. Even though Souma had been brave, smart, good at sports, and very kind—a real prince who'd had the bad luck to fall for a girl who preferred a princess—somehow Himeko didn't think Arrow would be comforted to be compared to a boy.

"Come on, let's get to class," the dark-haired girl invited. "I figure you'll be enough of a spectacle for everybody without walking in late."

Himeko almost got lost on her way to homeroom, but Arrow got her pointed in the right direction. She wondered if all of Chikane's friends knew about their past lives together; it would be really embarrassing if they knew she had the memories of _three_ lifetimes attending this school and still couldn't always find her way around.

Chikane was already waiting at her seat, calmly reading a textbook. There were more than a few whispers and glances being directed at her as well, though not quite so many as Himeko had received. She looked up as Himeko approached, though, and the blonde's heart caught in her throat all over again.

"Good morning, Himeko."

"Good morning, Chikane-chan."

Chikane extended her hand; Himeko took it and squeezed, the gesture as intimate as a kiss or caress. For sixteen years she'd had to sustain herself on memories alone, so that now each touch of skin on skin was a thrill. It was with distinct regret that she let the hand go to slip into her seat and began unpacking her books.

"Did you have a good night?" Chikane asked.

"Uh-huh. I missed you, though. Do you think we could do something today after school?"

Chikane's face fell.

"I'm sorry, Himeko; I have kendo practice. I'm the team captain, so I can't back out without notice."

"Oh, I see."

"Actually, though..." Chikane began, then hesitated.

"Yes, Chikane-chan?"

"You haven't signed up for a club yet, have you, Himeko?"

"No, not yet."

"Then why not try out for the kendo team?"

Himeko blinked.

"_Me_?" She pointed at herself in disbelief. "I've never been any good at sports, Chikane-chan; you know that."

Chikane smiled brightly at her.

"I know, but I think you'll be all right at this one. And it means that we can spend more time together each day."

That did sound nice. It was funny; Alice had mentioned something about this at lunch yesterday, too, Himeko recalled. That meant that Chikane had been thinking about it for a while, even before Himeko had actually come to Mahoroba. And it wasn't like one try could hurt anything.

"All right; I'll try it, if you really think it'll be okay. But I warn you, I've always been really awful in gym class and at school sports festivals. That hasn't changed, not through any of our lifetimes."

Chikane smiled at her, one of her shining-bright, light-up-the-room smiles, and Himeko felt her toes curl. _I missed her so much!_ she thought, momentarily overwhelmed.

"I know, but just trust me, all right?"

"All right." She paused, then added, "Is this one of your sneaky plans?"

"Plans? Would I have something like that?" Chikane's smile changed to a smug, knowing smirk.

"I knew it," the blonde moaned, making her girlfriend giggle.

Himeko _did_ trust Chikane; the dark-haired girl was far smarter than she was, but at the same time she didn't assume that Chikane was _always_ right or perfect. She'd idolized Chikane as much as the fangirls did, once, and learning to recognize the woman herself had been one of her most important lessons. _Plus, if Chikane-chan's plans always worked, we wouldn't be together now!_ And she wasn't feeling very confident about this plan, either, when she stepped into the kendo club's practice room after school. Her feet caught on the edge of a mat and she found herself doing a classic faceplant in front of the entire team.

Alice Ishida helped her up, while all around her girls stared and whispered.

_"Isn't that the one who—?"_

_"They say she was kissing Miya-sama yesterday!"_

_"What's she doing here?"_

_"Is she here to watch Miya-sama?"_

_"But she's dressed for practice—and Ishida-chan is helping her pick out gear!"_

Himeko distinguished herself further by managing to drop the mask on her toe, she was so nervous.

"Excuse me, but what do you think you're doing?"

"I'm helping Kurusugawa-chan with her protective gear, sempai," Alice replied to the stern-faced girl who'd challenged them.

"Kurusugawa?" the older student asked, tapping her bamboo _shinai_ against one shoulder.

"Kurusugawa Himeko, second-year student," Himeko introduced herself.

"This is Oomori Naomi, our deputy captain," Alice provided.

"That covers the 'who' and the 'what.' I'm still waiting for the 'why.'"

"Chikane-chan asked me to come to club practice today," Himeko said. Oomori blinked at her.

"You say 'Chikane-chan' asked..." Her voice trailed off as she put two and two together. "You're the girlfriend everyone's talking about, aren't you? What is Himemiya-_buchou_ thinking? You look like you've never done this before."

"I...haven't, Oomori-sempai."

"Then why are you here? We don't need any more rookies in the club, and from the look of you, you'll be weeks before you're even capable of that! Just because you're dating the team captain—"

"It's because I'm dating her that I'll know she'll be a benefit to the club."

"Chikane-chan!"

"I'm sorry I'm late, Himeko." She was dressed in full uniform, her mask under her arm and carrying two curved wooden swords, _bokken_, the kind used in _kenjutsu_ practice rather than kendo. "I'd forgotten where we kept these," she added with a sheepish look.

"What are those for, _buchou_?"

"A demonstration, Oomori-san," Chikane said. "You wondered, rightly, why I'd invite my girlfriend to join the club when she'd never done kendo before."

Alice winked at Himeko for Chikane openly calling Himeko her girlfriend.

"I thought it would be easier to show everyone." She handed Himeko one of the _bokken_. "Shall we, Himeko?"

"What? Oh. Oh!" Himeko finally understood. "But I don't want to hurt you, Chikane-chan."

Oomori blinked in surprise. Even Alice looked surprised. Chikane grinned.

"I'll try not to let that happen."

She clapped her hands.

"Everyone! Before we begin today's practice, I would like to introduce you to Kurusugawa Himeko, whom I'm hoping to convince to join us. I know that you have questions about why I'd be trying to recruit someone, so I thought a demonstration match would explain best. Now, Kurusugawa-san has never practiced kendo before, so we'll be using these instead." She held up her _bokken_. "No rules; three strikes to the head or torso. Will that be acceptable, Himeko?"

"Could we rule out the head? I don't think these masks are enough protection for that."

Chikane nodded.

"You do have a point. All right."

The club members watched eagerly as the two girls stepped to the center of the practice area and donned their masks before taking up their initial stances, both hands on the hilts of their swords.

Then, quick as lightning, Chikane struck. Himeko's sword came up, barely blocking it before Chikane was already into a feint-and-cut combination. Himeko blocked that one, too, actually recovering a bit by recognizing the feint for what it was and ignoring it to set up her parry.

_Of course she was right,_ Himeko thought to herself as the swords echoed off one another in loud clacking sounds. _We are the Sword Priestesses of Ame no Murakumo_. It didn't matter that Himeko was a lousy athlete or had never done kendo before. She had _lifetimes_ of experience with the sword echoing up through her soul, everything second nature to her. It was _funny_, in its own way; she knew that Chikane was a master with sword or dagger or bow, but somehow Himeko had never realized that it applied in any way to herself as well.

When they came together in a clash of swords again, they were no longer just Chikane and Himeko, but Solar and Lunar Priestesses, the practice bout a shadow of the shrine maidens' deadly dance. The club could see it too, realized that they were seeing something special even if not perceiving its exact meaning. Muttered, doubting comments had turned to gasps, looks of suspicion to slack-jawed awe as the swords wove a wooden net in the air, a percussive drumbeat of blade on blade echoing through the room.

In the end, it wasn't skill but wind that settled things, Himeko's tiring muscles and burning lungs no longer able to stand the pace her mind was setting. Chikane scored twice, quickly, and took the bout three hits to one. Himeko dropped to her knees and yanked off the mask, panting for air, while Chikane removed her own to reveal a beaming smile, her hair matted to her forehead with perspiration.

In the next minute, the club members burst into applause. It was Alice who started it, of course, but the stern deputy captain, Oomori, was the second to begin clapping. Chikane bent and extended a hand, helping her lover back to her feet. Looking back and forth at the awed faces of the "audience," Himeko flushed roughly the same hue as a tomato.

"That was incredible!" the irrepressible redhead whooped, coming up to clap Himeko on the shoulder.

"It was?"

"Himeko, nobody's scored a point off Miya-_buchou_ since junior high, in practice or competition. Nobody! And she had to wear you down before she could beat you; if you'd been in better shape, anything could have happened!"

Oomori nodded, coming up to join them.

"I owe you both an apology, Himemiya-_buchou_, Kurusugawa-san. Though I wish you'd told us, _buchou_."

Chikane grinned broadly, humor dancing in her eyes.

"Would you have believed me if I'd told you how good she was with a sword? Indeed, I don't think that she quite believes it herself, even now."

It was kind of hard to, Himeko had to admit. Chikane always took part in competitions—archery, tennis, equestrian events in her past life, kendo and probably others in the present one—so she'd know how she compared to other students. Himeko, though, only used her sword in real battle with the demons of Yamata no Orochi. Chikane was the only standard she had to measure herself against, so she hadn't really understood what that meant until now.

She still wasn't sure that she liked the idea of joining the team; her interests had always been artistic rather than athletic, and she didn't have Chikane's competitive streak, the desire to _win_ against an opponent. But it would be fun if she could stand alongside Chikane and help her succeed instead of just cheering her on from the stands. And whatever else was going on, Chikane had invited her for a reason, a reason Himeko suspected was more than just "help the team win tournaments" or even "spend some extra time with me." She'd find out what it was later, but she trusted Chikane's judgment.

So, when Alice asked her, "Does this mean you're going to be joining the kendo team, Himeko?" she smiled widely and nodded.

"Mmn!"

Chikane positively beamed at hearing her answer.


	3. Chapter 3

Himeko was humming a happy little tune as she walked up to the front door of her house after returning from school. One of the nice things about a small town—almost a village, really—like Mahoroba was that housing was much less expensive than in the city. When they'd lived in Chiba, the Kurusugawas had only been able to afford an apartment, but between her father's promotion and the lower land values, they now had a house of their own.

Her little brother Shiro was playing in the front yard, throwing a bright red ball covered in blue stars. The ten-year-old's new puppy, named, appropriately enough, Kuro, pounced on the ball, a flying bundle of black fur. He worried at it with his teeth and batted it back and forth between his paws.

"Aw, Kuro, no, you're supposed to fetch the ball, not run off with it!" Shiro complained; apparently the puppy was not picking up on the finer points of the game. Kuro looked up at him and woofed, his tail wagging so hard his entire back end was wiggling back and forth. Shiro laughed, unable to resist the dog's good spirits.

_Kuro's kind of like Shiro's version of Chikane-chan_, Himeko thought. After all, Shiro had wanted a puppy ever since he was three, nearly all his life, and it was the move to Mahoroba that had made it possible since they now had both the money and the space for it. The thought made Himeko imagine Chikane with puppy ears and a tail and she snickered. Kuro heard her, turned, and barked once, which made Shiro look.

"Hime-neechan!"

"Hi, Shiro! How was school?" Kuro scampered over to her, hopping up and probably getting paw prints all over her tights.

"Not too bad. There's a lot of work, though." He frowned. "Why couldn't we have moved before the spring term started, so I wouldn't have to catch up?"

"That's just when Otousan got the job. You should be glad that we moved at all."

Kuro scampered back to Shiro and pounced on his shoes, trying to bite at the trailing end of his shoelace. The boy grinned at the puppy.

"Yeah, I'm really glad we came here. I like this place a lot. You seem really happy too, neechan."

"Mmn!"

"Did something good happen?"

"Well, I joined the kendo team today."

Shiro laughed.

"Ha! That's funny, neechan!"

"Shiro, I was serious," Himeko pouted.

He looked at her in disbelief.

"No way! You're going to fight with swords and everything? But you're a total spaz! Do you know which end to hold?"

Himeko drew herself up proudly.

"Actually, they said I was the second-best one on the team!"

"Wow!" Shiro looked impressed, then went on to explain precisely what he was impressed about. "They must be, like, the worst team _ever_ or something!"

"Oooooh, I am so going to...to...to...well, something awful, you can be sure!"

"Ha! You'd have to catch me first," he teased, "and you totally run like a girl." He scampered off, the puppy scurrying at his heels. Shiro's laughter at getting the last word in on his big sister trailed in his wake, making Himeko sigh. Forgetting that she herself had had pretty much the same concerns all day, she drew herself up and thought, _That little brat! We'll just see what he's saying when we win our first tournament!_ Full of righteous indignation, she went into the house, took off her shoes, and slipped her feet into house slippers.

"Hi, Okaasan! I'm home!" she called. Himeko's mother was a housewife; in Chiba, she'd occasionally worked at part-time jobs to help out the family finances in leaner years, but with the family in a better financial position she was able to spend her time fully at home. Her hobby was _ikebana_, and Himeko noted a new arrangement on the table in the little hall between foyer, living room, and kitchen.

"Himeko, could you come in here, please?"

"Sure, Okaasan!"

Her mother sounded serious, and when Himeko walked into the neat kitchen, her face was equally serious. She got another surprise, too; her father was home early, sitting at the oblong kitchen table where they ate their meals. His expression, too, was serious, even dark, his lips pressed together into a thin line and his square jaw clenched in a sullen attitude.

"Otousan, you're home early. Is everything all right?"

Himeko's mother turned from the steaming pot she was stirring.

"No, Himeko," she answered the question for her husband. "Everything is not all right."

Himeko blinked, worried.

"Is it Otousan's health?" To her father she added, "Is that why you're home early?"

The answer, if any, was interrupted when Shiro ran into the room.

"That smells really good, Okaasan! How long will it be until dinner?" Seeing the tense atmosphere, he suddenly fell silent, then asked in a very small voice, "Is...is something wrong?"

"Shiro, please go to your room and take Kuro with you. Your mother and I are having an important discussion with your sister."

Ordinarily he would have protested or at least asked what it was about, but the boy picked up on the fact that his father was extremely serious. He bent and picked up the squirming puppy, then left the kitchen. A few moments later, they heard the patter of feet on the stairs telling them that Shiro had obeyed and was not trying to snoop at the door.

"This isn't about your father or myself, Himeko," her mother began again. "This is about you, and what you've done."

"Me?" Himeko squeaked. She hadn't done anything. She hadn't even forgotten any of her chores! And it was only the second day of school, so her parents couldn't be annoyed about her grades again.

"Himeko, what's wrong with you? How could you have done such a thing?" her father suddenly barked, making her jump in shock.

"Dad, what are you talking about?" she asked helplessly.

"Did you think we wouldn't find out? That there weren't going to be consequences?"

"I don't understand. I haven't done anything!"

They both stared at her.

"Are you actually going to stand there and deny it to our faces?" he snapped, his anger building. Himeko's mother, though, actually started to look hopeful.

"Now, Hajime, dear, Himeko has never lied to us in the past. After all, it's only rumors. Perhaps it's only been a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding! She—" He broke off, then took a deep breath, mastering his emotions.

"You'll tell us the truth, won't you, Himeko?"

"Of course, Okaasan."

"Well, then?"

Himeko stared at her helplessly.

"Himeko?"

"You haven't even told me what I'm supposed to have done!"

They looked at her incredulously, then at each other.

"Eiko?"

Himeko's mother nodded.

"We didn't say, you know. And if it isn't true, then she really might have no idea what we're talking about."

Hajime Kurusugawa nodded, then turned back to his daughter.

"Do you know a girl named Himemiya at school?"

"Chikane-chan? Of course! She's beautiful and amazing and I know you'll love her when you get to meet her!"

"Himeko!" her father cut her off sharply, then went on to put it in words, a sour look on his face. "Are you or are you not engaged in a homosexual relationship with Himemiya Chikane?"

_Oh._

She supposed she should have figured it out when her father mentioned "rumors." The same kids who'd seen them kissing, who'd spread the rumors through school, might have told their families as well. Adults would tell other adults, particularly if this world's Himemiya family was anything like that of previous lives. Of course it would be sure to get back to Himeko's father.

"Yes," Himeko answered.

Eiko's face fell; the spoon handle slipped from her fingers and clacked against the side of the pot.

"My God," her father muttered. "So you don't even deny it."

"Chikane-chan and I love each other!"

"Love!" Hajime protested. "You only met yesterday! How can you be talking about love?"

"It's true," Himeko argued. "We really are in love!" She wished she could explain, but the truth about their past lives and their relationship would just sound like nonsense to her parents. The Kurusugawas didn't even know of the legend, since they weren't from Mahoroba. _I wish Chikane-chan was here,_ Himeko thought helplessly. _She'd know what to say._

Her father made growling noises, and her mother just sighed.

"Himeko, we know this isn't your fault," Eiko began. "Girls get crushes on other girls sometimes; it's a natural part of growing up before you properly find a young man. And we don't believe for a moment the things people are saying about you."

"W-what are they saying?" Himeko asked.

It was her father who answered.

"The rumor is that you seduced the Himemiya girl into this perverted relationship."

"It's not perverted!" Himeko protested.

"Apparently, she's some kind of school idol, so everyone's talking about it, particularly given who her family is."

"We don't blame you, Himeko," her mother said. "To someone rich and beautiful and unscrupulous, a sheltered girl like you would be easy prey, but you must see how it would look to outsiders."

"Stop it!" Himeko yelled. "Stop saying those horrible things about Chikane-chan!"

"You're _defending_ her?" Hajime lashed out.

"She didn't do anything wrong! She didn't lure me or seduce me or anything like that!" She turned back to her mother. "And, Okaasan, this isn't some crush or temporary fad. I've known for a long time that I like girls in...in that way."

Himeko's mother gasped in shock at this pronouncement. Her father slammed the flat of his hand down on the table.

"Then in essence, you're saying that the rumors are correct. Himemiya-san was a normal, innocent girl before she became involved with you."

"Why is it so wrong?" Himeko protested. "We're just like any other couple in love. Just because we're both girls—"

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" he roared, and Himeko flinched back. Her reaction obviously caught his attention; he sat back in his seat, clenching his teeth as he again tried to leash his anger.

"H-Himeko," her mother stammered. "If this is true, then why didn't you ever tell us?"

"It...wasn't important, Okaasan. I mean, not until now. I wasn't interested in dating anybody until I met Chikane-chan, so...I guess I was a little scared?"

"But you're so young. How can you be so certain? Maybe you just haven't met the right boy yet, and—"

Himeko shook her head.

"No, Mom; it's not a phase. I'm never going to want to date a man." It occurred to her that she was technically deceiving her parents on this point, since she was bisexual rather than an actual lesbian like Chikane, but the statements she was making were the literal truth. Since she had Chikane, she knew and always had known she wouldn't want to be in a relationship with any boy, no matter how nice or attractive he was.

"Himeko, you can't know what you're saying, not when—"

"Eiko, that isn't the point now," Himeko's father cut his wife off. "Whether Himeko is just experimenting with romance or if she really is...different, that's something we can worry about later. The problem is this so-called relationship with Himemiya-san."

"It's not 'so-called'!" Himeko protested.

"Whatever it is, it ends now."

Himeko stared at him. _This can't be happening_, she babbled to herself. She couldn't understand what was going on.

"You are to have no contact with Himemiya-san other than what is mandated by your teachers at school," he went on remorselessly. "You will not speak to her, you will not call her or take calls, you will not exchange texts or e-mails, you will not sit together with her or be alone together in any way. You will do _nothing_, do you understand me, that can be construed as you having any kind of relationship with her."

"No!"

"This is not a discussion, Himeko. This is _final_."

Himeko's hands tightened on the handle of her school bag. Her vision clouded with tears, and it felt like it was hard to breathe, her throat glowing close, choked up.

"No!" Himeko repeated, then unconsciously fell into the most common protest, just or not, of a child facing a parental edict. "This isn't fair, to say something like that. You don't have any reason for it!"

Anger rushed back into his expression like a thunderbolt, completely consuming it. Himeko couldn't understand why he was so angry; it was like facing off against Orochi all over again except this was somehow worse, because this was someone she cared for, a man who'd always been there for her, supporting and looking out for her as a child. She found that a lot scarier than demons or monsters. _It's like a nightmare!_ she quailed.

"Not _fair_?" Hajime shouted. "No _reason_? Don't you understand what your little game is doing to this family?"

"I thought...I thought..." Tears were starting to stream down her face, but she found her courage. "I thought that my family would be happy that I've found someone that I love, someone that loves me back and wants to be with me!"

"Is your 'love' worth seeing this family out in the street?" her father shot back. "Because that's where it's going to end up!"

Himeko gasped, a kind of sick, phlegmy sound because of how choked up she was.

"I don't—"

"Understand? Of course you don't. You didn't stop to think, because all you cared about was your pretty little dream romance. You didn't think of how your selfishness would end up hurting other people, did you?"

"Hajime, dear—"

"No, Eiko. She was the one who said we didn't have any reason, that she didn't understand. So I'm going to make sure that she _does_ understand." He turned from his wife back to his daughter. "That's what you want, isn't it, Himeko? Or maybe it isn't. Maybe it's easier for your little fantasy if your parents are ogres, trying to separate you for the fun of it? After all, what's the fun of forbidden love if no one is forbidding it?"

"Hajime!"

"That isn't it!"

"Then consider this. Forget the embarrassment you'll cause your mother and myself. Forget how hard it is for Shiro to move to a new school at his age and make new friends ordinarily, before the entire town knows about his sister. Let's just consider the most important point. Why are we here at all? Why did we come to Mahoroba in the first place?"

"Because you...because you got a promotion at work," Himeko said between sniffles.

"And where do I work?"

"K-Kamiyatate Pharmaceutical."

"Which is a key division of the Himemiya Financial Group. Do you understand now, Himeko? Your girlfriend's family owns the company I work for. What do you think will happen, with _my_ daughter putting the Himemiya heiress's name on every pair of lips in town, making her an object of derision and contempt? It's already started. In one day, _one day_ since you met this girl, my section chief has already started dropping heavy-handed hints about how the personal conduct of employees _and their families_ reflects on the company as a whole. That's after a _single day_, Himeko. This isn't a joking matter or a child's game. If you stay on like this, I'm going to lose my job, and for a misconduct discharge, without references or recommendations, which will mean I'll very likely never be able to work in my profession again. At the very least, we'll lose this house, since we won't be able to make the payments on the mortgage. Then there's your future, and that of your brother. Tuition at a decent school, to say nothing of college, is expensive. You'll have ruined all of us with your little romance. Is that what you want? _Is it?_"

Himeko shuddered as his words lashed out at her. No wonder her father was so angry—it was fear, plain terror for himself and his family, everything he'd worked for, that was driving him. They were real fears, too; she'd seen the petty, grasping nature of people in the past. The way people like the fangirls from that morning had been contemptuous and resentful of "someone like Himeko" being close to Chikane, just for being ordinary. How much worse would it be if she did something that so many people actually believed was in and of itself immoral? They'd be sure to blame Himeko, and by extension her family. To want to punish the Kurusugawas for their "sins."

Her father was right. All those things _could_ happen, if she didn't obey him and let Chikane go. If only she'd known! They'd kept their relationship secret in their previous life; they could do it again. Himeko _had_ been thoughtless, though. She'd only considered their own happiness, how much she knew Chikane had hated hiding it, how much she herself wanted to be able to say it plainly and openly. It would serve her right if she had to be separated from Chikane again, a punishment for her own selfishness. She ought to obey her father for the whole family's sake.

But she couldn't.

She could do it to herself, but not to Chikane.

Chikane had sacrificed so much for her, lost her time and again through the ages, wandered lost and alone, waded through blood and pain and seen her sanity shattered, been lost in an unspeakable despair. _I can't...I can't abandon her again. Not even for something temporary, a few years. I just promised her yesterday that I wouldn't have any regrets._

"I can't!" she sobbed. "I can't do that to Chikane-chan again!"

Her parents gaped at her, speechless. It could have been her refusal—Himeko had always been a well-behaved and obedient girl, though with a strongly-developed sense of right and wrong. Or if they were paying close attention they might have wondered what she meant by "again," when she'd apparently known Chikane for all of one day. They couldn't know about fate or destiny or past lives.

She couldn't betray Chikane. It would be like cutting out a piece of her own soul.

_But what about my family?_

It was too much for Himeko. Being caught in the middle like that was a burden she wasn't prepared for. Tears streaming down her face, she bolted, running for the door.

"Himeko!" her father shouted, leaping from his chair. "Come back here! Himeko!"

She didn't heed him, though. She rushed through the hall into the foyer, wrenched open the door, and ran out of the house into the late-afternoon sun, sun that had seemed warm and full of promise but now felt harsh and mocking.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Once again, certain plot twists in this chapter will come as no surprise to my reviewers, as Ushiromae has joined Avarenda and MissGardenia among the prescient!_

~X X X~

The black Mercedes sedan, a uniformed chauffeur at the wheel, drove slowly through the residential neighborhood. In the back seat, Himemiya Chikane sat, her chin propped up in her palm, elbow resting on the edge of the door at the base of the window.

It had been so Himeko-like, she thought, that the blonde girl had completely forgotten to give Chikane her address when they'd exchanged cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Her good-hearted clumsiness could be so cute! It always amazed Chikane how so few people seemed to realize how lovely, how sweet and appealing Himeko was. Not just for her cute mannerisms and girlish looks, but also for her honesty and loyalty. She supposed she had to credit Souma Ohgami with that, for having the good sense to love and value Himeko—much as she hated to credit a romantic rival, even one from two lifetimes past, with anything. _I am_, she admitted, _a bit of a vindictive bitch._

She chuckled out loud at the thought. "A bit" was a definite understatement, though she wasn't what she'd once been. _A monster_, she thought regretfully, _who deserved the title of Orochi._ This life had been so different. Friends that she genuinely cared for instead of using them to adorn her reputation. Activities that she actually had fun doing instead of treating them as objectives to overcome. Normal things, honest things.

_Perhaps that is why I am a Himemiya again, this time?_ she thought idly. _A second chance to live that life over the way I should have?_ She was the Lunar Priestess, after all, and the light from her own personal sun made her shine brighter than ever, or at least that was how she felt. And after waiting for sixteen and a half years, that sun was back with her again. It felt wonderful to hold her, to just bask in her presence, and she was elated that Himeko would at last let her stand up and say, "Himeko is _mine_" to the world at large, to claim her in the sight of others.

Not that there wouldn't be problems, Chikane admitted. For all that she'd been getting love confessions from both genders throughout her teenage years, same-sex relationships were not widely approved. She had only to look at Alice and Saya's situation to see that. And Chikane's fans, too, were likely to be jealous.

That was one reason why Chikane had pressured Himeko to join the kendo team. People wanted to see the exceptional with the exceptional—it was why they'd always wanted to see Chikane dating Souma (even Himeko had thought that!). If Chikane could get people to see even a little bit of what she saw in Himeko, it would make her lover's life much easier. The swordsmanship of Ame no Murakumo's Solar Priestess was something even casual observers could see and be impressed by, the kind of thing that made it more "fitting" (bah!) for Chikane and Himeko to be dating.

Judging by the reaction of the rest of the team, the plan was working. She wondered if she should tell Himeko about it. Her poor darling had been pretty confused, after all. Then again, Chikane liked to do things secretly for Himeko's sake. Perhaps this was but a remnant of the days when she _couldn't_ act openly on her love's behalf, but the thought of helping her from the shadows, seeing her happiness without taking credit for it, made her warm inside.

_I enjoy it_, she admitted, _plans and secrets and mysteries._ She fitted the image of the moon as well as Himeko's open, guileless nature was appropriate for the Solar Priestess.

_Will she wonder how I found out her address?_ Chikane thought. Being student council president made it easy; she'd simply looked it up in the student directory. _Himeko might not even—_

"Stop the car!"

The driver braked immediately and Chikane threw open the door. Himeko was running down the sidewalk, her face wracked with emotion. She still wore her uniform—in fact, was still clutching her bag.

_Gods! What happened to her?_

"Himeko!" she called out, vaulting from the car. "Himeko, what's wrong?"

The blonde all but crashed into her; she might not even have heard Chikane over her sobs. She stumbled at the contact and Chikane caught her by the shoulders.

"Chikane-chan?" Himeko gasped out, her voice sounding half-strangled. When she looked up, Chikane saw that she'd been crying; her eyes were red-rimmed, her face all blotchy, and her nose dripping. "Oh, Chikane-chan!" she wailed, then buried her face against Chikane's shoulder as a fresh round of sobs wracked her. Chikane wrapped one arm around her beloved's shoulders, cradling her against her body, while her free hand gently stroked Himeko's hair.

"Don't worry, my love; I'm here," she murmured gently, holding the other girl close. Himeko's bag fell to the sidewalk and she fisted her hands in Chikane's sapphire-blue silk blouse, weeping against her shoulder.

After a few minutes, the storm passed and Himeko pulled back. Chikane took out a handkerchief and blotted at Himeko's eyes, then passed it over so the blonde could blow her nose.

"Th-thank you, Chikane-chan," she hiccuped.

"What's wrong, Himeko? Please tell me?" She brushed her fingertips over Himeko's cheek; the flesh was hot and sticky from the tears.

Himeko trembled, and Chikane felt her heart seem to skip a beat, she was so shocked at Himeko's condition.

"Please? You always said that you wouldn't let me suffer alone any more, but that runs the other way as well."

Himeko snuffled and nodded.

"It's...it's my family, Chikane. They've heard all kinds of rumors about us already, before I could even tell them, and they...and they..."

It was fairly obvious to Chikane what their reaction had been. She drew in her breath sharply. Bad enough that they had made Himeko cry; if they'd _dared_ to hurt her...

Himeko looked around herself, at the neatly trimmed lawns and rows of houses, the occasional person here or there in their front yards and blushed, realizing she'd been making a scene.

"C-can we go somewhere a little quieter to talk?"

Chikane nodded. The obvious place was the car, but unlike the limousine it didn't have a soundproof divider between the seats, and she suspected that Himeko wouldn't want to talk where the chauffeur could hear her. They'd passed a little park about a block before, though, that she thought ought to do nicely.

"All right, Himeko."

She signaled to the driver with gestures that she wanted him to wait, then took Himeko's hand and led her up the block. The park wasn't big, barely more than a playground for the neighborhood children. Himeko sat down on a spring-mounted riding horse painted pink and white, so Chikane hopped up on the next one sidesaddle so she could face her girlfriend. The spring breeze ruffled at their hair.

"So, Himeko, your family doesn't approve of you dating a girl, is that it?" she began after Himeko had remained silent for nearly a minute.

Himeko shook her head.

"No, that's not it. At least, it didn't seem like it." She sighed. "My mother was shocked. She seemed to think it was like a girls'-school romance? The kind that people grow out of?"

Chikane nodded.

"I know what you're talking about. Though to me that seems more like giving up and following society's expectations than 'growing out' of anything. But that's too easy for me to say. I mean, we've never really had to worry about what to do in our adult lives."

Life was funny that way. Ever since Himeko had accepted her feelings and found a way for them to be together, being a _miko_ of Ame no Murakumo had started to seem like an advantage for Chikane instead of a drawback.

"I told her that wasn't what it was," Himeko went on, "and that I'd always known I could never love a boy, which is true, because I have you! She was really shocked, so I don't know if she believed me. I suppose I should have talked to them before about this, but since I hadn't met you yet in this life there didn't seem to be any point."

Himeko sighed deeply and looked down, not meeting Chikane's eyes.

"That wasn't the problem, though," she said softly. "I don't think they were happy about me liking girls, but that wasn't why my dad was so angry."

"Why, then?" Chikane was curious now.

A tear started to glimmer in the corner of Himeko's eye that Chikane could see.

"It was because I was dating _you_."

Chikane was stunned. It was one thing that people objected to homosexual relationships; she expected that sort of reaction. But that Himeko's parents had a problem with her _personally_?

"What the—? But I don't even know your family!" she protested, so startled that she completely lost her usual aplomb.

Himeko ran her fingertips along the curved mane of her horse.

"The rumors they've heard...they're all about how the depraved Kurusugawa girl went out and seduced the heiress of the Himemiya family, that...that I'm some kind of pervert who's trapped you into this, who's just using you."

"_What?_" Chikane yelped.

"People think that I'm...that I'm doing bad things to you," Himeko went on. "I guess it's a big scandal in town! Everybody loves and looks up to you, and so they...they think I must be doing something wrong to make you look at me."

Anger surged up like a wave within the dark-haired girl. Himeko was no more capable of being a wicked seductress than was a rainbow or a butterfly! The idea was utterly ridiculous, and it made Chikane want to claw out the throats of anybody who would think such a thing!

"Those stupid fools!" she growled, slamming her fist against the neck of her horse. "What kind of moron would believe that about you? Bad enough that filthy scum who've never met you would be saying that, but your own _parents_? What kind of people could raise you for sixteen years and possibly think those things?"

Himeko flinched a little from Chikane's sudden outburst, making her lover feel sorry for it even though it hadn't been directed at Himeko.

"They...they didn't, not at first," she told Chikane in a very small voice. "They assumed it...well, that you were some rich playgirl who was taking advantage of me."

Chikane laughed bitterly.

"That's closer to the truth, at least."

"Chikane-chan! You promised me you wouldn't talk like that any more. It's not true, and I told my parents the same thing."

It was amazing—absurd, really, when you considered it—how Himeko would instantly spring to her defense. After every awful thing she'd done to her beloved, regardless of how good her ultimate intentions had been, there ought to be _some_ resentment, _some_ lingering hurt on Himeko's part. Yet there wasn't.

"I'm sorry."

"You'd better be." Himeko sniffled and fell silent for a second before continuing. "Chikane-chan, they...they demanded that I break up with you. No, more than that, that I cut off all contact with you except as required at school. Just...just talking to you like this, I'm disobeying them."

"You can't do that!"

"I don't want to! I mean...I've already waited sixteen years, and in a couple more we could go to college together, some place away from both our families. I could wait that long, if I...if I had to, but..."

Fear clawed at Chikane's heart, stark, agonizing fear. She wasn't as strong as Himeko, she knew, not nearly. Himeko could set her teeth and endure the pain of separation and when it was over just be grateful to be reunited again. But Chikane? To endure sixteen years apart, waiting and hoping for their reunion, and then to have it snatched away, be forced to endure another two years with Himeko constantly in front of her, tantalizingly within reach but unable to be touched, unable even to speak with her... She would go mad, she was certain. It was too much to bear!

"Himeko, you can't do that!" she...shouted? Ordered? Pleaded? Begged? She wasn't sure. "To let those people, who don't know anything about us, dictate to you because of what other stupid fools say? Why should their opinion matter to us at all? If they don't like us being together, then that's their problem. Why should you make it yours?"

It was a sincere enough speech, born of one part terror at the thought of losing Himeko and one part the lingering shadow of the Eighth Neck of Yamata no Orochi, for whom nothing and no one mattered _but_ Himeko. But Chikane didn't get any of the answers she was expecting.

"They matter to _me_!" Himeko shot back at her. "These are my family, Chikane-chan, who raised me from birth! They've loved me and cared for me all through my life, working hard to make sure that we had a roof over our heads and food on the table. All these years, they've been the ones who have been there for me, the ones who protected me and reassured me. When I woke up screaming at nightmares that weren't nightmares but memories that my four-year-old mind couldn't understand, memories of demonic monsters and the world being consumed in fire and earthquakes, it was my father who'd rock me on his knee and hug me and drive off the monsters so I could sleep! When I'd be playing at something and suddenly burst into tears because I'd want to show you and _you weren't there_, only I was too young to even understand what it was that I'd lost, it was my mother who chased away the sadness and made me feel loved! Even my little brother Shiro, who always looks up to his big sister even though I'm silly and graceless and clumsy."

Chikane was taken aback by the sudden outburst of emotion, not just by Himeko's defense of her family but by how she'd burst forth with such a long speech for their sake. Guilt stung at her, too, because the subtext of what Himeko was saying was obvious: _they were there for me when you weren't._ In their past life as twins they'd always turned to one another first even as children, utterly secure in the knowledge that the other would always, absolutely be there. In this life, though, they'd been forced to grow up apart, yet with past-life memories that couldn't make sense until brains and bodies had aged to the point where they could accept them.

"Even so, to try and tear us apart now—"

"They're _scared_, Chikane-chan!" Himeko didn't even let her finish. "They've worked hard to build a good life for themselves and for Shiro-kun and me! A good job, a nice house, good schools for their children, all of it, and it could all be taken away, because of _me. _Because of us!"

The tears were welling up in her violet eyes again, and Chikane was at a complete loss as to what to say.

"Himeko, I...I don't understand what you mean. How could our going out cost your family all that?"

"Because you're you, and I'm nobody. People think that I'm a scheming pervert who's s-seduced you."

"That's ridiculous! And even if there are complete idiots who could believe such a thing, how could gossip hurt your family? Are they so obsessed with propriety that they couldn't bear the whispers?" She couldn't help but let a little of her scorn creep into her voice. It was a mistake, as Himeko's temper flared up at her at once.

"I told you already that isn't it, Chikane!" The sudden absence of the usual "-chan" told Chikane just how angry her lover was. "My father could lose his job because of this! His boss has already reprimanded him over it, and that was on the very first day after we started going out!"

Chikane blinked in confusion.

"But why would a company be that obsessed with such things, to threaten an employee's job just because he has a gay daughter? Where does he work?"

"Kamiyatate Pharmaceutical."

Chikane wasn't the Himemiya heiress for nothing; she'd studied the family's holdings and, quite frankly, knew more about the Himemiya Financial Group than anybody but her grandfather and father and the senior staff.

"You're saying that it's...because we own it, the Himemiya Group, that the managers are concerned not just with how an employee's child acts, but because it specifically involves a member of the Himemiya family, no, with the main branch, with the one who is second in line behind my father to inherit the holdings and become head of the entire Himemiya family."

_How could I have been so stupid?_ she railed at herself. _How could I have missed it?_ She'd thought about what it would mean to Himeko at _school_, had tried to counter that by elevating Himeko's status and making sure Chikane's circle of friends like Alice openly accepted the blonde—she hadn't been confiding to them about Himeko in advance just out of friendship, but also to lay the groundwork for Himeko's eventual appearance and what would otherwise seem like a crush completely out of the blue—but she hadn't stopped to even consider what it would mean for Himeko's family as a whole to be linked scandalously with the Himemiya heiress.

She had a pretty good idea of why that was, too. Chikane's own family life was formal and distant in a lot of ways. That wasn't to say that her parents disliked her or were cold to her; in truth, the separation was on her side rather than theirs. She thought of Himeko's sudden hug, almost a flying glomp, when the blonde had found out at lunch yesterday that Alice was a real, genuine friend. Himeko understood. Two lifetimes ago, Chikane had been Orochi. For all that she'd worked to try to save the world from within that role for Himeko's sake (_how alike were we, Ohgami Souma?_), she had been legitimately so lost in despair that she'd have gleefully consigned the world to perdition were it not for the Solar Priestess.

There was a word for what she'd become; it was _sociopath_. A monster incapable of seeing any abstract value in human life, viewing people (with that one exception) as resources, obstacles, or tools—_objects_. Himeko had known it and loved her anyway—Chikane seemed to recall some fragment of a conversation, in fact, when Himeko had felt sorry that someone "as kind as Chikane-chan" had been so badly hurt as to fall into that despair-wracked, damaged mindset. And maybe she had been right. The present Chikane was, after all, capable of forming friendships and valuing people for themselves and not for what they could give her, capable of compassion and of kindness for their own sake rather than that of her image. She was healing. But she wasn't healed.

The blunt truth was, while Chikane liked her family well enough, it was only that. Liking. If her relationship with Himeko caused them problems, she wouldn't have even perceived a conflict. But Himeko was different. She _loved_ her family, _as_ a family.

"I'm so sorry, Himeko. This is all my fault, for not recognizing what would happen." _For overlooking your family as irrelevant, not even worth planning for._

She started to reach out, to gather Himeko in her arms and hold her close by way of apology and to comfort, then hesitated, unsure if Himeko would want her touch just then, angry as she was. Himeko seemed to sense her concern, and reached out to clasp Chikane's hand as kind of a middle path.

"Oh, Chikane-chan, I'm not going to leave you. I'll never, ever do that again. But I can't let my family be hurt, either," she sniffled. "If they don't like that I'm with a girl, then they'll just have to learn to live with it. But we absolutely cannot let Otousan lose his job! We can't do that!"

Chikane sighed. If she'd known about this before, she would have held back, pretended to be just friends like Alice and Saya, until they could work something out. But the cat was out of the bag now; no one would believe they were only friends at this point.

"Come home with me," she invited impulsively.

"Ehhhhh?"

"You...I don't think you should be alone right now, Himeko. You ran out of your house because of the fight, and I don't want to let you go home to face your parents' wrath until we've figured out what to do. Unless...you're afraid that will just make things worse?"

Himeko shook her head.

"N-no. I mean, Otousan will be really mad that I disobeyed him, but I've already said I'm not going to give you up, so that part is okay. But I don't have any of my things!"

Chikane chuckled despite herself.

"I think we can manage. I'll let you borrow some of mine; it'll be like old times." She felt herself blushing faintly. "I always enjoyed playing dress-up with you."

Himeko blushed back, but returned a shy smile.

"Thank you, Chikane-chan. I...I do really feel like I need to be with somebody now."

She mopped at her eyes again. Chikane took out her mobile phone and called her driver.

"Hiro, come pick us up, please. We're in a little park about a block east of where you let me off. Yes, thank you."

The car arrived in under a minute. Chikane took Himeko's hand and helped her down off the horse; the blonde winced, though, when her feet hit the ground.

"Himeko! Are you all right?"

"It's just, my feet hurt..."

Chikane looked down and realized that Himeko was still wearing her house slippers, obviously having run out of her home without changing into her shoes. The fragile footwear was scuffed and even ripped in places, and Himeko's feet had been cut.

"We'll take a look at these right away when we get you back to my house, but for now..." She bent and scooped Himeko up in her arms, one arm under her knees and the other supporting Himeko's upper back.

"Chikane-chan, this is embarrassing! I can walk, really!" she protested, but Chikane didn't relent, bearing her lover's slight weight over to where the driver was holding the sedan's rear door open for them.


	5. Chapter 5

The Himemiya mansion was as grand in this lifetime as ever, Himeko thought as the car wound its way up the drive from the front gate to this palace of Mahoroba's founding family. On some level, a house such as this was an absurdity, far beyond anyone's needs or even wants, but Chikane had once explained that it was as much a matter of prestige as anything else—that if the Himemiyas did not put on such an outward display of wealth, people would wonder if something was wrong, costing them more than what the mansion and estate did.

_She always knows those kind of things,_ Himeko thought. _Impressions, appearances, how people react._ A thread of resentment rose up within her as she thought, _So why didn't she think about how Otousan's company would react? Chikane-chan should have known!_ Himeko knew better than anyone that Chikane wasn't the perfect girl she sometimes approved to be, but even so it was an awful mistake.

She'd made her feelings plain enough, though, so she didn't say any more now as the car brought them to the base of the front steps. They'd checked her feet during the ride and found no serious injury, just a couple of small cuts and a lot of damage to her house slippers and tights, so at least Chikane didn't carry her again, which was kind of romantic (and pretty impressive, since they were about the same size) but terminally embarrassing. She did lend a hand going up the steps, but that was more a matter of politeness, Himeko thought.

Servants greeted them upon entrance, beginning with the footman who opened the door and continuing with the glasses-wearing maid—more probably a housekeeper, though she was only in her mid-twenties and pretty—who greeted the returning _ojousama_ and her guest in the foyer. Since the mansion was an almost entirely Western-style building, they didn't change shoes upon entering, which made Chikane glance thoughtfully at Himeko's feet.

"You don't like large, fancy rooms, as I recall?" Chikane said.

"I...don't know," Himeko said. "I didn't before, but I haven't thought about it since then." How much, after all, had been her genuine taste and how much that gnawing sense of I-don't-deserve-this? In her own way, Himeko had been nearly as broken a person as Chikane.

"Then, would you mind staying with me?" Chikane offered.

Himeko blushed a little and shook her head.

"Very well." Chikane turned to the housekeeper. "Ishigami-san, this is Kurusugawa Himeko, my guest. Please take her school bag to my study and have my bathroom prepared for a second person. She will be staying in my room."

"Yes, ojousama."

"Also, please bring the first-aid kit and a pair of shoes, size—" She glanced at Himeko and offered a guess.

"That's right; you remembered!"

"Ones that would go with her school uniform; we will dress for dinner but she'll need them for tomorrow. And have someone telephone the Kurusugawa home and let them know that Kurusugawa-san will be staying with us tonight." She rattled off the phone number, which Himeko had given her yesterday along with her cell number.

Ishigami didn't flicker an eyelash at any of this.

"Very well, ojousama."

"Are Otousama and Okaasama home?" Chikane asked.

"Your mother is at home; I believe that she is in her office. Your father has a late meeting but will be home by seven. Dinner will be served at quarter to eight."

"An hour from now. Thank you."

Himeko gulped.

"Are...are you going to introduce me to your parents, Chikane-chan?" she murmured.

"Certainly. You are a guest in their home, after all, and besides that the most important person in my life." She beamed at Himeko, probably trying to set her at ease, but not really succeeding.

_Geez, I've never done this before!_ In the lifetime when they'd fallen in love, Chikane's family had been absent the whole time and they hadn't become lovers until the end of it all, looking down from the Lunar Shrine on a dying planet. And in the lifetime after that they'd been twin sisters, so they'd skipped the whole "meet the parents" moment for obvious reasons.

Given the reaction of Himeko's _own_ parents, she wasn't really looking forward to that of Chikane's. No doubt they'd heard the same rumors; if the officials of Himemiya companies were acting on them, then certainly the family had been told.

There was no use putting off the inevitable, though. Chikane was right about that.

"A-all right, Chikane-chan."

She gave her bag to Ishigami, then followed Chikane up the stairs to a small but luxurious sitting-room or parlor with soft emerald carpeting and light green furniture, with forest scenes in oil continuing the color motif. They had barely settled themselves on a settee when a plump blonde maid brought in a first-aid kit, which she set on the polished surface of a rosewood coffee table after first setting down a pad and tray to prevent scratches or spills.

"Thank you, Akemi-san," Chikane said.

"Yes, ojousama." The maid bowed and left.

Chikane patted her lap.

"Please put your feet up, Himeko."

"All right."

She turned on the loveseat and swung her feet up. Chikane removed the torn slippers, then let Himeko peel down the black tights from her school uniform, the feet of which had gotten nearly ruined. Chikane blushed faintly as Himeko rolled the tights down her legs, seemingly unable to take her eyes away, and Himeko grinned, happy that her lover was still...interested. When she saw the reaction to her removing the left one, she made a point of sliding the right one off slowly and lingeringly, rewarding Himeko with an even brighter blush on the other girl's face.

"Naughty Chikane-chan," she teased, wagging her finger at her girlfriend.

"I'm sorry," Chikane said, looking away.

Himeko blinked.

"For what?"

"I...shouldn't be thinking about such things now, with all that's going on."

Himeko sighed.

"Chikane-chan, I'm upset with you, yes, but it doesn't mean that I don't love you or that I don't want you to be attracted to me. And I...I was flirting a little, so of course I _want_ some kind of response."

Chikane shook her head.

"You're far too good for me, Himeko."

"You always treat me like I'm made of spun glass emotionally. You don't have to. I'm a lot tougher than I look!"

Chikane smiled sheepishly at her and twined a loose lock of hair around her fingers.

"I guess sixteen years apart have me backsliding into bad habits. I'll try to be more selfish and callow in the future."

Himeko stuck her tongue out at her before they both collapsed into fits of the giggles. Laughter helped clear the air, and Chikane set to work, first cleansing the cuts on Himeko's feet, then applying antiseptic and bandages.

"Does that feel all right?"

"Mmn!"

"Good; I think you'll do fine, but we'll take another look before kendo practice on Monday. Luckily, tomorrow is Sunday, so you'll have the chance to let those scrapes rest and heal."

"Thank you, Chikane-chan."

There was a soft knock at the door, and at Chikane's invitation another maid came in, this one with black hair done up in pigtails.

"I have the shoes you requested, ojousama. I hope they're the right ones."

"Let's see, then."

The maid gave the shoes to Chikane, who slipped them onto Himeko's feet in a way that reminded her of the prince in "Cinderella." Visiting the Himemiya mansion always had that kind of effect on the blonde.

"How do they feel?"

"Perfect!" She stood up and took a few steps. "Mmn, they're exactly right."

"Thank you, Miyu-san," Chikane told the maid.

"Will there be anything else, ojousama?"

"No, thank you."

The maid bowed and left.

"Do you know all of your staff by name, Chikane-chan?"

"Oh, yes. While a first-class staff such as this one functions as if it were a machine, it is made up of people, after all. I...wasn't as aware of that as I should have been, before."

Himeko chuckled.

"Well, if I'd let you _know_ about the shiitake, it might have helped. I was too awed to mention it."

"I think Otoha-san would have made you shiitake-flavored tea if she could have figured out a way," Chikane noted, then both girls giggled. She then hopped to her feet. "They should have my room ready for you by now, so we can go pick out a dinner outfit without being underfoot."

"When you said 'dress for dinner,' you didn't mean a big, formal affair, did you?" Himeko asked nervously. She didn't want her first impression on Chikane's parents to be of her using the wrong fork to spill food onto an expensive borrowed dress.

"No, don't worry. Actually, this is a good day for you to have come visiting; my mother put her foot down when she married Otousama that Saturday nights would be simple, family dinners like normal people eat—no dinner parties, no seven-course meals, not even the main dining room, not unless it's a holiday."

"I won't be intruding, will I?"

Chikane stood and took her hand.

"Himeko, you _are_ my family, more than anyone in the world."

"I'm glad."

"I had actually meant to invite you over for dinner tonight, anyway, since it seemed the best time to introduce you. I'm just sorry that everything else happened and so much is going on at once."

Himeko nodded.

"Me, too. I've been looking forward to our reunion all my life, and all I want is to squeal and be happy, but all these problems keep getting in the way."

"At least it's not the end of the world," Chikane said. If she hadn't smiled, Himeko would have missed the joke, but the blonde caught on after a couple of moments and laughed.

"Chikane-chan, you shouldn't joke about that," she said between giggles.

"I couldn't resist. We'll get through this, you know. I do have a couple of ideas how I can put things right, but...shall we take care of one problem at a time?"

"Mmn," Himeko agreed. The idea of being formally introduced to her girlfriend's parents—and _as_ a girlfriend, not just a school friend—was kind of terrifying. Maybe even scarier than the Orochi! _At least I know what to do against Orochi. I've never done anything like this, though!_

"Good! So then, let's see about getting your face washed and picking out something for you to wear to dinner."

~ X X X ~

A light knock at the door drew Himemiya Hayate's attention away from her computer screen. She stretched and rubbed her eyes before answering the knock. Though she was the daughter-in-law of the head of the Himemiya family, she'd never lived the life of an ornamental socialite but held down an executive vice-presidency in the investment division of the Himemiya Financial Group's central bank.

"Come in."

The door opened to reveal the slim form of Ishigami, the housekeeper.

"Pardon me for interrupting, Oku-sama, but Chikane-ojousama wished for me to tell you that she has invited a guest for the evening."

"Oh, is Alice staying over again?"

Ishigami shook her head.

"No, Oku-sama, the young lady's name is Kurusugawa Himeko."

Hayate exhaled slightly, a gentle hiss of breath.

"Of course; I should have guessed. Please let Seiji know when he arrives home, Ishigami-san."

"Certainly, Oku-sama."

When the housekeeper had gone, Hayate leaned back in her chair and sighed heavily. The rumors she'd been hearing about her daughter had implied that this day would be coming sooner rather than later, but on some level she'd known it would happen for years, like it was destiny.

Leaning forward, she opened the bottom right drawer of her desk and took out a stiff brown portfolio-style folder. Hayate laid it on her desk, unwound the string holding it shut from its tab, and opened the flap. Taking out the papers inside, some of which were over ten years old, she began to go through them one by one.

~ X X X ~

"Chikane-chan, this closet is bigger than our apartment in Chiba was!" Himeko boggled. She was exaggerating, but not by much. Serried ranks of clothing marched down the walls, shirts and fancy dresses and skirts and slacks and coats, with cabinets at far end presumably for lingerie and stockings and similar items. "It feels more like a store than a person's wardrobe."

"Well, in a way, it is like a clothing store. After all, we're going to pick out something for you to wear tonight. So you'll browse, then take something home."

"Chikane-chan, I couldn't take any of your beautiful clothes _home_."

Chikane giggled.

"Himeko, girls lend each other clothes all the time. Alice still hasn't given me back the green scarf she borrowed last December!"

"Well, okay, but...I don't feel right, sponging off you."

Chikane suddenly came up close behind her, folding her arms around the blonde.

"Does it bother you, Himeko, that my family is so wealthy in this lifetime?"

Himeko's hands came up and covered Chikane's, almost of their own accord.

"Yeah, a little. I mean, you're such an amazing person, and I think it's only right that you have this kind of life. But it's really overwhelming, too. I don't fit in this kind of world. It was easier in our past life, where you were more on my level."

"Himeko, please don't say things like that."

"I know," Himeko said with a sheepish, sad smile. "You hate it when I talk like that almost as much as I hate it when you talk about yourself being a bad person."

"That's why I consider it Heaven when it's just the two of us together in the Shrine," Chikane said softly. "No class distinctions, no worldly accomplishments, no expectations from other people, just you and me, two bodies, two souls, without any irrelevancies to divide or separate us."

"I wonder how long it took," Himeko mused, "how many lifetimes we spent with you thinking what you felt for me was a hopeless dream, something corrupt and evil, and me thinking that I wasn't worthy, a burden who dragged you down to my level?"

"Ame no Murakumo would know. Perhaps we should ask, if you're really curious."

"They say you have to hit bottom before you can get better. I was so shy and meek that I just accepted what everyone said without having my own opinions about anything, because I didn't think someone like me had the right or the ability to choose."

"While I was an Orochi."

Himeko turned her head so they could look at each other. There was a long pause as they stared into each other's eyes, then they broke into sudden laughter.

"We _were_ awful, weren't we?" Chikane said.

"You said it, not me," Himeko teased.

"And who's _still_ complaining about not being on my level?"

"Who's still a borderline sociopath?" Himeko shot back, grinning.

Chikane returned her smile.

"Well, then, if I only care about my own wants and desires..." She spun Himeko in her arms, let her hands slip down the blonde's back to cup her bottom through her uniform skirt, and pulled her tight against her body for a searing kiss. Himeko's blood seemed to race; she felt the heat swell within her and her legs trembled as Chikane's tongue teased her lips, seeking entrance. She moaned, accepting the invitation, and her arms came up to embrace her beloved. The kiss went on for a long time, until at last Himeko dragged her mouth away from Chikane's.

"We can't," she moaned regretfully, her entire body screaming a protest at what she was saying. "Your parents...they'll expect us for dinner."

Chikane sighed and nodded.

"You're right." She blushed, then added, "Besides, I want our first time together in this life to be special, not a quick roll on the closet floor."

Himeko smiled.

"You're such a romantic, Chikane-chan."

"It's more like I have this perfect fantasy of how everything should play out, that I've been building in my head for five years," Chikane admitted, making Himeko giggle.

"Me, too."

Chikane sighed.

"I guess I really screwed up, then. If I hadn't spoiled things with your family, we could be deciding who gets to have theirs first."

"Chikane-chan..."

She shook her head.

"No, we're going to get this solved," she declared firmly. "I know we promised to be together no matter what suffering or pain we had to go through, but there's no reason why you should have to endure any such thing. _Particularly_ not when it's my fault."

The firmness of her determination was striking; she talked, and looked, like she was about to face off against some adversary. Maybe she was, Himeko thought. She was well aware of what Chikane felt for her, the intensity of it and how the idea of losing it scared her beloved. Himeko's parents' edict and the pain it caused Himeko to know her family might suffer really _was_ an enemy for Chikane, then.

"Do you really think it's possible, Chikane-chan?"

She nodded.

"Absolutely. I swear to you, Himeko, that I'll protect you, and that includes the people and things that are precious to you."

"Chikane-chan, thank you."

"But first things first; we need to get you ready for tonight's dinner. So let's get you out of that uniform."

Himeko grinned flirtatiously at her.

"But I thought you didn't want a quick roll on the closet floor?"

"Himeko!"

~X X X~

_A/N: Of course, I cheated a little here—the entire incident with Himeko's distaste for shiitake mushrooms is taken from the anime continuity (both the series and Drama CD include it), but since Otoha did have a scene in the manga where she complains about Himeko being unworthy of Chikane's attention, I didn't believe that it was necessarily out of place. _


	6. Chapter 6

Chikane had told Himeko that the Himemiyas typically had Saturday dinners in the small dining room. Himeko had, however, failed to adjust the idea of "small" in her mind for where they were. In this case, "small" meant forty feet on a side, with a brick fireplace piercing one wall between tall casement windows and a ceiling high enough that the two chandeliers would have to be lowered from their chains for the servants to change the light bulbs. The table in the center was covered in crisp, white linen, and the plates, crystal, and cutlery gleamed, throwing back the light in brilliant pinpoints. A table at a five-star restaurant would be trading down, she suspected.

"This is a casual family dinner?" she whispered nervously. Except for the fact that the table couldn't sit more than six comfortably, it might as well be a banquet hall. Chikane actually blushed slightly.

"I suppose it is a little absurd," she admitted. "Of course, Ishigami-san's pride would be offended if anything was less than perfect, and it isn't as if Otousama or Okaasama would handle the cooking and clean-up themselves."

Himeko smoothed her skirt nervously. She was wearing a green dress from Chikane's closet that Chikane had worn when she was thirteen. The age gap took care of the current difference in height and bust, and it had been designed as a loose fit to be cinched with a belt so it wasn't too tight around Himeko's thicker waistline. The accessories were supposed to be white, but since Himeko's borrowed shoes were brown, she'd been provided tan stockings and a brown belt. Chikane hadn't changed from her blouse and skirt, so Himeko felt comfortable with the outfit.

After a couple of minutes, the far door opened and two people came in. Himeko's heart caught in her throat as she got her first look at Chikane's parents. Her lover swiftly took the lead in the situation, stepping forward and speaking first.

"Otousama, Okaasama, I would like to present to you my girlfriend, Kurusugawa Himeko."

"I'm very pleased to meet you and honored to be a guest in your home," Himeko babbled, bowing more deeply than was necessary.

"Himeko, this is my father, Himemiya Seiji."

Seiji was a surprisingly short man, the same height as his wife and a centimeter or so shorter than his daughter, but he carried with him an air of self-assurance that added inches to his apparent stature. Around forty years old and clean-shaven, he had a handsome face and bright blue eyes that seemed to be testing and assessing Himeko while giving nothing back. He wore a dark blue suit and white shirt as if he'd just come from the office, which perhaps he had.

"So, this is the famous Kurusugawa-san," he mused. "I am glad to be able to meet you right away."

Himeko suppressed a shudder, not liking the word "famous."

"T-thank you, Himemiya-sama."

"Be nice, Seiji," his wife chided.

"This is my mother, Himemiya Hayate," Chikane continued.

Hayate's appearance surprised Himeko a little; she'd been expecting a beautiful, elegant lady who'd be an ornament at a society function. What she saw, instead, was a woman with hair the same color as Chikane's but with severe, almost plain features that, in combination with her cream-colored blouse, blue skirt, and relative lack of jewelry (she wore only her wedding ring, plain gold studs in her ears, and an ivory cameo at her throat) spoke more of efficiency than of elegance. She surprised Himeko, though, by smiling, the sparkle in her deep brown eyes all but transforming her face.

"It's a pleasure to meet you at last, Kurusugawa-san. Chikane has told us so much about you over the years that I feel as if I know you already."

"Over...the years, Himemiya-san?" Himeko asked hesitantly, then caught on and turned to Chikane. "Ohh, like you told Arisu-chan about me!"

Chikane nodded.

"I wanted to make sure early on that it was properly understood there would be no point in marriage negotiations or other such matters. I did not think it would be fair to let them act in good faith only to find me completely unwilling to even consider the idea."

"Wow, I suppose a family like this must have all kinds of concerns like that." The Himemiya _keiretsu_ seemed to be more along the lines of the family-owned _zaibatsu_ that had flourished in the past according to Himeko's history classes, so arranged marriage might be seen as a strategy to cement business relationships and increase family holdings.

"Not this one," Hayate remarked. "Chikane has always been most insistent that there was only one person for her. But please, let us eat. I'm sure that such a late mealtime isn't what Kurusugawa-san is used to, is it?"

"N-no, Himemiya-sama."

Chikane's mother pointed to herself. "Hayate," she said, then pointed to he husband and said, "Seiji." Himeko blushed bright red.

"Oh, but I couldn't possibly..."

The older woman smiled kindly.

"Well, perhaps in time."

They went to the table and sat down, Chikane's father at the head, his wife at his right hand, his daughter to his left, and Himeko next to Chikane. As if in response to a prearranged signal, a footman entered and filled the water-glasses, then set a large salad bowl on the table. Himeko openly admired the seascape etched into the glass, which won a surprising chuckle from Chikane's mother.

"Um, did I say something strange?"

"The salad set was an anniversary present to us from Chikane," Hayate explained, serving the tossed salad. "So you complimented her without even realizing it."

Chikane grinned wryly, and Himeko found herself blushing again.

"Perhaps you'd tell us a little bit about yourself, Kurusugawa-san?" Seiji invited.

"There's not really much to tell. My family lived in Chiba all my life until we moved to Mahoroba a week ago. I'm an ordinary person, really, not like Chikane-chan. I like art and photography, but I'm not really a very good student. Oh, and Chikane-chan invited me to join the kendo club!"

"She's very good," Chikane said. "With more practice, she'll be as good as I am."

"If I can ever learn the rules. Oomori-_sempai_ was showing me, but it's hard to keep straight."

"Mm-hm," Chikane agreed. "The formal targets for scoring strikes and the methods required can be confusing; my body so often wants to go somewhere else, somewhere more effective in a real fight. It was hard, at first, to keep from being disqualified."

"I'm not sure I'll be as good as you. I operate all on instinct, so it's really hard to hold back. I'll try, though."

The salad was delicious, the vegetables crisp and flavorful but light. The vinaigrette dressing was one of her favorites, which made her suspect that Chikane had had a word with the cook. She was always good at little kindnesses like that.

"So how are you liking Mahoroba?" Seiji asked.

"Oh, it's wonderful! It's just as I—" Himeko cut herself off just in time to stop herself from finishing, _remembered it_, since none of her memories of Mahoroba were from her present life and that didn't sound like something a sane person would say. She was pretty sure that Chikane's parents wouldn't welcome a crazy girlfriend for their daughter! "It's like I hoped it would be," she finished lamely. The ocean, and all the trees everywhere, and the hills, and the view from the academy. Even the school uniforms are really pretty! This is a wonderful, nostalgic place." She reached for Chikane's hand. "And I found Chikane-chan here, which is the best thing of all!"

Chikane's mother smiled at her.

"Well, you're an honest young lady, at the least." The remark made Himeko blush yet again; it seemed she was destined to spend the entirety of this meeting imitating a beet. Chikane squeezed her hand and smiled at her, making Hayate chuckle.

"Aren't they cute together, Seiji?" she teased her husband. "They remind me of us at their age."

"We hadn't yet met at their age," Chikane's father pointed out.

"You know very well what I mean, dearest."

Himeko trembled. Did this mean that Chikane's mother actually _approved_ of her? Of the girls being together? Just like that, without any question or hesitation? It was almost too amazing to be believed! She glanced at Chikane, seeking some kind of clue, but the other girl's expression was unreadable.

"Yes, I suppose," Seiji grumbled. He addressed himself to his salad, rapidly finishing it while casting glances at the three ladies at the table. Hayate turned the conversation to Chikane's student council activities and listened attentively as her daughter detailed the plans that were being considered for the upcoming school festival and matters of fundraising. The Himemiyas had always been major benefactors of the school, but Chikane was trying to arrange things so that it didn't require such large single-source donations to fund matters, both as a Himemiya who didn't want the family's beneficence wasted inefficiently, and as a class official who didn't want to put the school in a position where it had to depend on one source for its needs. Himeko didn't have a lot to offer to that discussion, mostly sitting awed while Chikane and her parents weighed various options and casually discussed matters of high finance.

"But our guest must be finding this very boring," Chikane's father brought things to a close once the salad had been cleared and the dinner course served, a simple Japanese-style meal of grilled Pacific salmon.

"No, not at all," Himeko said. "Well, er...I admit that I don't really understand anything of what you're saying, but it's fun watching you talk about it." Three confused pairs of eyes looked at her; Himeko noticed that Seiji's were the same color as his daughter's. "Because you're all so interested and enthusiastic, like when Otousan talks baseball with our downstairs neighbor Tanaka-san."

The image called up in her mind suddenly stung at her heart once she'd put it into words, because she realized that on the one hand she'd never see it again because they'd left Tanaka behind in Chiba, and on the other hand happy memories of her father hurt, given not only the rift that had opened up between them but her worries about how their happy home life was threatened.

It was Chikane's father who noticed her sudden discomfort.

"Kurusugawa-san, is something wrong?"

"I...it's..." she stammered, caught between wanting to ask for help and not wanting to break down and complain, revealing her personal problems to Chikane's family—particularly not on the first meeting!

Chikane, however, settled the matter for her.

"Otousama, Okaasama, the truth is that I made a very serious mistake, which has caused problems for Himeko and her family."

"_You_ did, Chikane?"

The expressions of both elder Himemiyas were openly full of surprise. Himeko could certainly understand that; one hardly associated "Miya-sama" with making errors in judgment that caused problems for people. The thought struck her that oddly enough it was she, Chikane's lover, who knew more of her failings than anyone.

"Yes, I did."

"Within but a single day of meeting her, and already she is requiring that you make amends?" Hayate said, her glance sliding towards Himeko with a trace of suspicion. Himeko glanced back to Chikane and saw with surprise that anger was written distinctly on her face.

"Um, Chikane-chan, I don't understand..." she said, which she didn't but also because talking _about_ feelings tended to help keep people from acting on them. She didn't want anything to happen now, not when it had been going so well!

"My parents have noted that immediately after we met, it seems that you have come running to me with problems that are my fault, which therefore I would be honor-bound to solve, and they are wondering what the _financial_ impact of that would be. Or, to be more plain-spoken about it, they think you're a gold-digger trying to line your pockets from me while you have the chance."

Himeko gasped in shock, Seiji scowled, and Hayate sighed.

"Really, Chikane, is there any need for all these histrionics?" her mother chided. "You can hardly blame us for being curious. Surely the facts will speak for themselves."

"That you can actually believe Himeko capable of being a devious schemer shows you have no regard for the facts."

"We've known Kurusugawa-san for the space of less than an hour," Chikane's father pointed out. "You can hardly expect us to come to such a conclusion on that basis."

"Otousama!"

Himeko laid her hand lightly on her girlfriend's shoulder.

"They're right, Chikane-chan," she said gently. "They...they don't know me." Which didn't mean that it didn't hurt, that someone thought she or her family would use Chikane for money. It hurt a lot! But it was _fair_, because they didn't have the facts about what was happening or know Himeko at all.

"It shouldn't take more than—"

"Chikane-chan," she chided, a bit more firmly. "I'm a big girl, really; you don't have to protect me against honest questions. Besides, you don't need to worry your parents."

Chikane sighed, then took Himeko's hand in hers, lifted it off her shoulder, and rubbed it against her cheek. The causal intimacy of the gesture, under the circumstances, made Himeko blush yet again. It seemed to help Chikane relax and shed her anger, though.

"I'm afraid that I do need to tell them, Himeko." She let the hand drop and turned back to her parents, who looked more curious than ever after all the byplay. "Otousama, Okaasama, may I presume that you have heard rumors today about my relationship with Himeko?"

"Yes, we have," her father replied. "I was very displeased to have to find out in such a way."

"Those rumors were my fault. I decided that I wanted our relationship to be public, not a hidden thing as if it was shameful. Towards this end yesterday as we were leaving school I kissed Himeko in the courtyard, making our relationship very plain to the dozens of students who saw it."

"That was not well-done, Chikane," her mother chided. "There is a difference between an open and honest acknowledgement of your feelings and making yourself into a public spectacle. Boy or girl, that doesn't matter."

Chikane nodded.

"I know, Okaasama. I was swept away by how exultant I felt to have found Himeko at last, and I let myself act without thought of the consequences. Those consequences gave rise to rumors, which passed not only among the students but to their parents and so through the community. From what I understand, most of the gossip casts Himeko in an extremely negative light."

"That was certainly the case with what we heard."

"Then I must thank you for reserving judgment."

Hayate shook her head.

"It was only natural, Chikane, as we know you. The idea of you being seduced by an unscrupulous girl seemed unlikely. However, that the rumors would paint matters in this light is also natural; you are a Himemiya, well-regarded throughout the town, while Kurusugawa-san is a transfer student without yet any category into which small minds can place her. When you add in the fundamental tendency of gossip to be mean-spirited and cruel, the result was inevitable."

Chikane nodded.

"I know, and I now deeply regret my actions. The last thing I wanted to do was to shame Himeko, but my selfish desire to celebrate and proclaim my feelings resulted in exactly that, and not merely her, but the entire Kurusugawa family. Himeko's parents have ordered her to break off the relationship with me."

"Indeed?" Seiji said.

"They do not approve of homosexual relationships?" Hayate asked.

"Possibly not, but that was not the reason for their actions."

"Oh?"

"The truth is, Himeko's father has been threatened with the loss of his job if his daughter's actions continue to 'shame the Himemiya family.' You see, Kurusugawa-san is employed by Kamiyatate Pharmaceutical. It appears that they believe my relationship with Himeko, no doubt seen in the worst possible light, brings the company name into disrepute."

Seiji's scowl deepened.

"I see."

Chikane's head dipped.

"I was sure you would. Thanks to my act of self-indulgence, Kurusugawa-san stands at risk of losing his job and his good character, with the resulting consequences for the entire family."

"And yet, you have brought Kurusugawa Himeko-san here, to our home, an act which will no doubt aggravate the situation if publicized," her mother said. "Our staff is both exceptional and loyal, but like all of us, human." She turned to Himeko. "Have you considered obeying your father, Kurusugawa-kun?"

"Yes, I have. If it were for my sake, I would, to save everybody the trouble, but..." She trailed off, glancing at Chikane, not quite sure how she should handle this, how much to reveal.

"That is not an option," Chikane said flatly, surprising both of her parents and even Himeko a little. She wasn't at all used to Chikane making declarations like that to third parties.

"Chikane-chan..." she murmured lovingly.

"I realize that my own precipitate actions have brought us to this pass," Chikane went on fiercely. "Even so, I shall not allow the arrogant presumptions of the small-minded to dictate to us. Not about this." Her hands curled savagely into fists where they were resting on the table, her nails biting into her palms. "For the sake of Himeko's happiness, I would do anything, but this...this is just a case of two different kinds of needless suffering to choose between."

"Chikane-chan..." Himeko repeated.

"Enough!" Himemiya Seiji snapped, raising his head. "This is, as you know, a complex situation with multiple ramifications. In my opinion, the correct course of action is to discuss matters face-to-face between all concerned parties, so that all issues can be addressed." He glanced at his wife. "Hayate?"

"I think that says it very well. Tomorrow is Sunday, so it will be the best possible time, and in any case, things are best settled quickly. Chikane, I trust the Kurusugawas were informed that their daughter is staying here for the night?"

She nodded.

"Yes; I had Ishigami-san contact them as soon as we arrived."

"Excellent; they won't worry about Himeko-chan's safety, then."

Himeko let out a little gasp at the form of address.

"You don't mind me calling you that, do you, Himeko-chan?"

"N-not at all, Himemiya-sama!"

Hayate smiled at her.

"That's good, because yesterday when she returned from school, Chikane was as happy as I have ever seen her in her life, and I'm quite certain as to why." She picked up her chopsticks. "Now, if that's settled, I for one would prefer to eat my dinner while it's still warm."

"Mmn!" Himeko agreed happily, while Chikane gave her an indulgent smile.

~X X X~

"Chikane-chan, do you...do you think your mother likes me?" Himeko asked. She swept the brush through her girlfriend's hair in long, smooth strokes. In their previous life as twins they'd played lady's-maid often enough for one another, enjoying the intimacy of caring for their beloved. Chikane was so beautiful, Himeko thought, that it made it really fun to try and bring out the best in her appearance. Of course, the dark-haired girl always said the same thing about her...

"Mm, who wouldn't?" Chikane smiled at her in the mirror.

"I'm serious! She seemed to be friendly, but then she got kind of angry, but then she was all nice again. And it must be a pretty awful shock to suddenly find out that your daughter has a girlfriend, especially if they heard those nasty rumors first. Your father said that he had."

Chikane nodded.

"That was unfortunate," Chikane agreed. "I should have told them about meeting you yesterday after school. I suppose my liking for the theatrical gesture got the better of me—I needed to present _you_ to them, not just the situation. Still, it was not as much a surprise as it could have been."

"Oh?"

"Because they already knew about my sexuality, and about you. They might have thought that you were but a fantasy, but that the rumors were about me being involved with a girl would not be unexpected." She chuckled softly. "Indeed, I think they'd have been more surprised if it had been rumored I was dating a boy. No, actually in that case they simply wouldn't have believed it. That's happened before, when someone of substantial social status has planned to ask me out or confessed his feelings."

"It's so amazing," Himeko marveled. "You could have had anyone you wanted. Even in our previous life when you were from an ordinary background it wasn't any different from now; the money and power didn't mean anything."

"Himeko, you don't still worry about that, do you?"

"Mm-mn," she demurred, a soft smile on her lips while she shook her head. "Not any more. I do still wonder why, sometimes, but I don't have any doubts. You're the other half of my soul, Chikane-chan. We might fight or get angry or do stupid things or hurt each other, but we'll never, ever lose one another again." She hugged Chikane from behind.

"Did Ame no Murakumo know this when he bound us together as miko, I wonder?" Chikane murmured, her hand covering Himeko's. Her skin was soft and cool, her touch soothing. "Or maybe we were so tightly bound already that we _had_ to be chosen together, because we could never be parted."

"Because it's impossible for a destiny to exist which doesn't bring us together," Himeko answered. "We just took too long to realize it."

"No," Chikane told her, turning her head to look at her directly, "we had to discover our feelings for ourselves. Gods or fate might have brought us together, but only we could choose to love."

Himeko bent and kissed her softly.

"You're right," she said. She set the brush down on the vanity table and straightened up. "Let's go to bed, Chikane-chan."

"All right."

Chikane turned off the lights and they slipped beneath the covers. The huge four-poster bed was so big that Himeko would have felt lost in it on her own, so she curled up facing Chikane. The other girl took Himeko's hand between hers.

"Don't worry, Himeko. We'll see this through together, tomorrow, and then I can welcome you back properly."

"Mm-hm," she denied. "I already had my welcome back, the moment I walked into the classroom and saw you."

Chikane sucked in her breath.

"I love you, Chikane-chan. Being together with you is enough for me."

With the smile lingering on her lips, Himeko closed her eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

"Yes...yes, ten o'clock will be fine. We'll be expecting you."

Kurusugawa Hajime set the phone handset back in its cradle, then let out a long, deep shudder.

"Hajime, dear?"

He glanced at his wife, saw her round, pleasant face marked by worry. That was all this day seemed to have brought them both. Worry for his daughter's well-being when he'd first heard the rumors, then worry over his job and his family's future when his superiors had made their positions clear. Then worry shared and redoubled with Eiko when they'd talked. Then Himeko had chosen to defy them—_Himeko_, who was ordinarily one of the most sweetly well-behaved children he could imagine. She'd actually worked herself into a frenzy and run out of the house sobbing, and then had come more worry about what trouble she'd get into in such a state.

Then had come the phone call, and worry over Himeko's safety had been replaced by worry over the consequences of her actions. She'd said that she'd refuse to give up this infatuation, and she'd blatantly disobeyed him. How else to explain that she'd wound up at the house of her so-called girlfriend? She'd gone and run straight to the Himemiya girl. Terror had gnawed at him, worry plain on Eiko's face as well. _How far is she willing to take this? Until she destroys us all?_

Maybe that was so, because by going to the Himemiya house, Himeko had insured that things would reach some kind of conclusion. There would be no quiet breakups, no apologies to his supervisor. She had apparently prevailed on her love interest to take her in, and that meant the Himemiyas themselves would be directly involved.

At nine-thirty in the evening, that fear had manifested, had come to pass.

"That was Himemiya Seiji-sama, Eiko."

"Is he...?" She couldn't even bring herself to say it, but Hajime knew what she meant. He nodded, then finished the thought for her.

"He is the son of the family head, the heir to the Himemiya Financial Group and the acting head of the family in Mahoroba." He remembered these details from articles he'd read, interested, when he'd found out before the move that the thousand-year-old family that owned his employer had originated in the small coastal town. "And...the father of the girl Himeko is infatuated with."

"Oh, no," Eiko whispered.

_Why did this have to happen?_ he asked himself for the thousandth time. _Why couldn't Himeko be a normal girl?_ Or, if she had to experiment with a girl's-love romance—or even if she'd been speaking the plain truth when she'd told them flatly that her interest in her own sex wasn't a sudden infatuation but a long-standing fact—then why couldn't she have picked anyone—God, _anyone!—_else to have her crush on? A daughter having a lesbian romance was scandalous and embarrassing, but that was all. Himeko had gone and dragged the Himemiya family into the scandal. Pitying looks and snide mockery in the break room had instead become a reason for discharge, no different than if he himself had landed the company on the front page of the tabloid news.

"What did he say?" she found the courage to ask after a long silence.

"The Himemiyas want to talk with us, face to face, about the situation with the children."

Eiko gasped again.

"It's...it's come to that?"

"Himeko went to their home. I offered to come pick her up, but he said that no, he would bring her back home tomorrow when they came to meet with us." He sighed bitterly. "She'd gone and dragged Himemiya-sama personally into this. He and his wife will be here at ten tomorrow to 'discuss the matter of our daughters' relationship.' I'm sure you understand. All we can do is apologize with all our heart, but Himeko...after today, I feel like I barely know her. Like...she might do anything. And where does that leave us? And Shiro? And Himeko herself, even?"

Eiko looked at him with mute entreaty and he pulled her into his arms, trying to convey to his wife a reassurance he himself didn't feel. His eyes flicked around the small room, at the new arrangement of furnishings and space he still wasn't used to. They'd lived there only a week, hardly enough time for it to be called a home, and yet the thought of leaving threatened to drive him to tears.

~X X X~

The morning sun was bright, spreading the soothing warmth across the sleeping form on the bed.

"Himeko."

There was no reaction; the blonde slept on, her tousled hair spread out across the pillow.

"Himeko." More insistently, now, it seemed to make at least some headway; though her eyes didn't open, her lips moved.

"Go 'way, Shiro; don' wan' get up."

"Hi. Me. Ko!"

"Waaah!"

She sat bolt upright in bed, eyes blinking madly; Chikane thought she looked so cute that she burst out giggling.

"Chikane-chan! That was mean!" Himeko pouted. "I'm still sleepy."

"Sleepy, indeed, if you mistook me for your little brother."

Himeko blinked in surprise.

"Ehhhh?"

"I believe your exact words were, 'Go 'way, Shiro.'" She struck a sexy pose, with her hands behind her head and back arched. "Do I look ten to you, and male?" she added, pouting playfully.

"Oh, _you_." Himeko threw a pillow at her; laughing, Chikane caught it.

"All joking aside, it's time to get up, Himeko."

"Huh? Howcome?"

"It's eight-thirty. We're supposed to be at your parents' house at ten."

"Ah! That's right!" She started to leap out of bed, got her feet tangled in the covers, and fell out of bed, her waist bent at the edge of the mattress so that she faceplanted on the thankfully soft carpet and had her rear end stuck up in the air. Chikane leered openly, then offered Himeko a hand up; both girls giggled together and shared a quick good-morning kiss. It felt so good, so right to be back together with Chikane again.

That thought, though, got the butterflies going in Himeko's stomach once again. What did Chikane's parents want to say to hers? Would it help them be together? Would her own parents be furious at her disobedience as well as at her relationship? There were so many potential problems! She hoped it would go all right, but...

Himeko showered and brushed her teeth, then dressed in her school uniform, which had been laundered overnight, although she borrowed a pair of socks to go with the shoes since her tights had been ripped. She was kind of surprised that Chikane hadn't tried to lend her clothes as well, but that actually turned out to be part of her plan.

"We don't want your parents to start thinking about you borrowing things from your rich girlfriend," she said. "It's impossible to avoid the prestige of the family name, but I don't even want to hint that you might be out for a financial advantage." Chikane sighed, then frowned. "I can't stand that I even have to _think_ about that. I _hate_ that people can be so small-minded."

"Chikane-chan..." Himeko touched her lightly on the arm. "Please don't be angry. It's not their fault. They just want to make sure I grow up to be a good person." She shook her head, then added, "No, if it's anyone's fault, it's mine. I knew that we would meet again, and that we'd be lovers when we did, but I didn't prepare for it. I could have told my parents about you they way you told yours about me, but I didn't. I didn't even have the courage to tell that that I knew I'd be with another girl. If I'd at least confessed my sexuality, they wouldn't have been so shocked."

"Himeko." Chikane tapped her on the nose chidingly with her forefinger. "We've talked about your claiming things are your fault when they're nothing of the kind."

"But, Chikane-chan—"

"No, no, and no again. You're giving me credit for courage, but anything I said wasn't bravery, it was a _plan_. Me, preparing the ground in advance for what I knew would come. That isn't courage, it's minimizing risks; it's avoiding danger, not facing it. Yet once again I failed to account for something important when planning out my life." She chuckled softly. "Perhaps I should turn in my Evil Mastermind's license, hm?"

Himeko laughed.

"You'd better do that anyway. You don't do evil very well. You couldn't even get your own victim to believe you." This time they both laughed, before Chikane slipped her arms around Himeko's waist and pulled her close.

"I love you, Himeko."

"I love you too, Chikane-chan. No matter what happens, for good or bad, I'll always love you." She tipped her head back, and Chikane's mouth descended on hers, soft and yearning. Himeko's hands slid across her lover's back, feeling the sleek play of muscles beneath the lightweight white sundress.

"It's so hard to tear myself away from you," Chikane sighed. "We'd better get going, though. I don't want to make us late."

Himeko nodded, letting Chikane go with regrets that matched the other girl's. They went downstairs, where they were greeted by Chikane's parents in the breakfast room. The meal was delicious, but Himeko was so nervous she could only eat a few bites, drawing sympathetic looks from all three Himemiyas. When they'd finished, Seiji led them outside, where the long, silver limousine was waiting at the base of the steps before the mansion portico. The driver opened the door and they got inside, and in a few moments the car was underway, gliding smoothly down the walk and out through the gates.

~X X X~

Kurusugawa Shiro's jaw dropped as he saw the limousine turn into their driveway and pull to a stop. He figured any car like _that_ must have been making a U-turn or something but no, the moment it stopped, the engine turned off.

It was just one more strange thing in a series of them that had begun when Himeko had come home the previous afternoon. Sure, life had been weird enough as it was, getting hauled out of the only home he'd known and dragged across the country to some little town in the sticks, the exact opposite of city life in Chiba. Himeko had been all excited about it from the instant their dad had named the town, like she was all for it and happy to leave her home and friends. Getting Kuro had been really great, of course, but getting used to the new place was tough, to say nothing of a new school, coping with homework and being "the new kid" where most of the class had lived their all their lives.

But last night, things had gotten _really_ weird, even scary! First, Himeko had said she'd she'd joined the kendo team, which was strange enough. His sister was such a girly-girl most of the time that she was a total loss. She was like, the exact opposite of an athlete! Then, though, the scary stuff had started. Their parents had gotten so serious, and then sent him out of the room. He figured Himeko was in _big_ trouble, and that was crazy! Himeko never got into any trouble at _all_ except by accident; she was so _boring_ that way!

There'd been yelling and shouting, then, though on both sides, and Himeko had _run off_. His dad had gone out to look for her after a while, but come back alone, and a short time later had gotten a phone call which had made him really mad. And Himeko hadn't come home! Shiro had asked what was wrong, but they wouldn't tell him. This morning, she still wasn't back, and his dad was still angry, and his mom had been crying. Something really awful was happening, and they wouldn't tell him!

A driver in a pearl-gray uniform got out of the car and opened the door like they did on TV. A short man in a dark suit got out, then extended a hand to a woman carrying a file folder and helped her out too. There was something about them, the boy thought, that fit with the car. He didn't really understand it in the way an adult would, to put it into words, but it seemed natural to them to be surrounded by fancy stuff, not weird or out of place. If he'd seen the people first, he'd have _expected_ this kind of car and it'd have seemed wrong if it hadn't been there.

The third person to get out of the car was of the same type, a tall, elegant girl in white with dark hair down to her knees. Shiro was of an age where he pretty much assumed that girls had cooties unless proven otherwise, but this one was dazzling, like a movie star or something.

The fourth person was Himeko.

"Hime...oneechan?" Shiro gaped. What was his sister doing with people like this? He scampered for the door.

"Otousan! Okaasan!" he shouted as he fumbled with his shoes. "Hime-neechan's home! She's with some people in a _limo_!"

That his parents didn't seem at all surprised was just one more strange thing to add to the list.

~X X X~

Kurusugawa Hajime's heart was in his throat as he met the Himemiyas at the door. He barely noticed that Seiji was a head shorter than he was. He _did _notice the way Himeko clung to the hand of the teenaged girl who had to be her "Chikane-chan," saw how the girl gave it a quick squeeze in turn before releasing Himeko to let her step into the foyer and perform the introductions.

"Otousan, Okaasan, may I present to you Himemiya Seiji-sama, his wife Himemiya Hayate-sama, and their daughter Himemiya Chikane-ch—san. Himemiya-sama, these are my parents, Kurusugawa Hajime and Kurusugawa Eiko."

"I apologize for the state of our humble home."

"No, the fault is ours for requesting that you accommodate our wish to meet here," Seiji responded politely. Neither he nor his wife gave any sign of the emotions they must have been feeling; their polished manners were securely in place without a chip in the facade.

He led them into the family room where they would hold their discussions. It was a Japanese-style room, and he wondered if Western chairs would be more suitable for his wealthy guests, but this was the only room large enough for them to sit comfortably.

"Can I offer you a cup of tea?" Eiko said. "I know that it won't be as good as you're used to, but..."

"A cup of tea would be lovely, thank you," Hayate replied.

They seated themselves on cushions around the low table, Eiko distributing the cups of green tea before joining them. It was, not surprisingly, Himemiya Seiji who began.

"I believe that we all know why we are here," he said bluntly. "Our daughters have initiated a relationship and, moreover, made it public. We are now presented with a variety of issues concerning which, hopefully, we can reach some form of mutually acceptable resolution."

"Otousama," Chikane said, "may I say something before we begin?"

"Certainly, Chikane."

Hajime thought that she might launch into some kind of impassioned defense of their actions, but instead she bowed to the Kurusugawas.

"I must apologize to you for my actions in making Himeko and my relationship one open to the public. I did so thinking only of my own selfish happiness, without consideration for what it would mean to her family. I can't ask for forgiveness, but I am sorry for what I did, and I wish that I could have handled things in a proper way."

"Chikane-chan..."

She sounded sincere, though with her polished grace it was hard to tell.

"I appreciate your candor, Himemiya-san," Hajime told her, trying to stay polite. Turning to her parents, he went on, "For my part, please accept my deepest regrets that this incident should have happened at all. Please do not hold this against my daughter, for becoming involved in this matter or for troubling you again last night. Though foolish, she is young and the passions of youth led her astray; it was my fault and my wife's for not properly anticipating this as adults and acting appropriately to prevent your name from being sullied."

_The formality of it all makes my tongue ache,_ he thought. _A simple salaryman has no place talking to people like this._

"Kurusugawa-san, forgive me, but you seem to be laboring under a misapprehension," Seiji said, raising a hand. "We have no desire for revenge or to inflict punishment. My wife has thoroughly reviewed your employee records—" Hajime's eyes flicked to the file she carried, but Seiji shook his head. "No, not that; that file is something different we will come to presently. You appear to be a loyal and competent professional, who earned your recent promotion through merit rather than by contacts and cronyism. Such individuals are valuable; they form the backbone of our business operations. It was utterly inappropriate for your supervisor to conflate a private, family matter with company business. The relevant parties will be informed of their errors."

Hajime was thunderstruck. That Himemiya would take such an attitude seemed impossibly generous, but there it was; he had the man's word on it. Beside him, Eiko gasped, her face lighting up, and Himeko had the same reaction. It was as if a giant weight had been lifted from him; he scarcely knew how to react.

"Thank you, Himemiya-sama," he said—although in truth, _babbled_ wouldn't have been too far off as a description. "Your generosity...it—"

"You should thank your daughter, Kurusugawa-san," Hayate interjected. "She was the one who brought this matter to our attention so that we could act before it was too late." Her eyes flicked towards Himeko and she smiled. "Really, child, do you intend to blush at _everything_ I say? At this rate you shall give me a complex."

"Um...I'm sorry, Himemiya-sama. I can't really help it."

"Well, we'll work on that, as well as this 'Himemiya-sama' nonsense. We did discuss this yesterday."

"Yes..." Himeko murmured, blushing even more furiously.

"You should let her have her way, Himeko," Chikane tossed her. "Okaasama has my stubbornness, you see."

The way she addressed Himeko, without honorifics at all, made Hajime want to twitch. Of course, it could have been appropriate between them if meant in the sense of lord-to-peasant, where the respect shown by the use of an honorific was not necessary, but under the circumstances he was sure that it was, instead, a matter of the emotional intimacy between the two girls. For himself, he couldn't comprehend it. Forms of address suited to lifelong friends, passionate protestations of love when confronted, _kissing in public—_and all within the space of scarcely more than _two days_. He couldn't understand how such a bond could exist, one that formed that deeply that fast.

He sipped tea, giving himself something to do while trying to make sense of it all. Across from him, Himemiya Seiji did the same, then set his cup aside.

"Now that the peripheral questions have been dealt with," Chikane's father stated, "we can progress to the less urgent but, I believe, more important matter at hand. Namely, what are we, as parents, going to do about this relationship between our daughters?"


	8. Chapter 8

Himeko was surprised. Chikane's father had gone and said it straight out, with little preamble or beating around the bush. The uncomfortable formality of the discussion thus far meant—to her—politely circling an issue instead of approaching it. Then again, she supposed that one could be straightforward in formal speech as well.

"We understand, Himemiya-sama," her father said. "Rest assured that we will take steps to make certain your family is no longer bothered by Himeko's unseemly affections."

"Pardon me," Hayate replied, "but it is quite clear that you do _not_ understand."

The Kurusugawas looked puzzled.

"Himeko will of course make a formal apology to you, but I don't understand what more we can do," Himeko's mother said. "If there's a way we can set these rumors to rest, please tell us."

Himemiya Seiji let out his breath in a short, almost fierce exhalation that reminded Himeko of a martial artist in a samurai movie just at the moment when a blow was struck.

"The point we are making is that we aren't demanding that the girls separate."

Himeko's eyes widened as she gasped in surprise. Admittedly, she'd believed—hoped—that this was possible, from the way Chikane's parents had treated her at dinner and from what Chikane had told her, but to hear it said outright, actually put into words, sent a thrill through her. Chikane smiled at her from across the table.

"Forgive me, Himemiya-sama, but...you are correct. I _do not_ understand. These appalling rumors..."

Seiji nodded.

"They are offensive, I agree. And from the standpoint of a business executive, unfortunate. But from the standpoint of a parent, I feel my ultimate concern must be my child's future happiness."

"But this must surely be a passing crush," Eiko replied. "It's not at all unusual for a young girl, with no experience of boys, to form an affection for another girl." She blushed faintly. "I...I once had a crush on one of my upperclassmen myself, when I was only a year younger than Himeko is now. But these things pass in time." She looked at Chikane's mother, perhaps in an attempt to appeal woman-to-woman to her. "Surely that isn't a reason to expose the girls to the attention and stigma of being homosexuals."

Hayate, however, did not seem to accept that reasoning.

"I have to admit, protestations of deathless love over a girl that Chikane met only two days ago would make me cynical as well. Seiji and I are not interested in watching our daughter's name blazoned across the tabloid headlines as she careens from infatuation to infatuation. I think that _if_ we believed that was the case, we might well agree with you, simply because of the lack of judgment Chikane would have showed."

She glanced down the table at her daughter.

"You do realize, Chikane, that while we don't demand that you in any way conceal your sexuality or your relationship, we _do_ expect that you conduct yourself with the same amount of discretion and propriety as we would if you were dating a boy?"

"Yes, Okaasama."

Hayate turned back to the Kurusugawas.

"Now, you're probably wondering why we can be certain that this is not just a phase Chikane is going through, or more to the point, since we accept that Chikane is indeed a lesbian, why this particular affection is genuinely _love_, not just a crush on a cute transfer student?"

"I certainly am," Hajime responded.

"Indeed," Eiko agreed.

Chikane's mother set the accordion file on the table, undid the closure, and opened the flap.

"Seiji said that we'd come back to this," she noted, then riffed through the contents and took out a page which she placed on the table.

It was a drawing in crayon, done in a child's crude, inexperienced hand, the kind of thing that decorated the fronts of refrigerators throughout the industrialized world. This one showed a house—some kind of building, anyway—with a large prayer gate over on the left-hand side. On the right were two people, little more than stick figures. Both seemed to be female, since they had long hair and skirts; one was blonde with red clothing, the other hand been drawn with dark blue hair and a violet outfit. The blonde appeared to have bright red cat ears which Himeko realized belatedly were the corners of her oversized bow. It was a picture of themselves as Solar and Lunar Priestesses on the moon. She had purple dots for eyes, and just to remove all doubt, the names "Himeko" and "Chikane" were written beneath their respective figures in clumsily formed kanji.

"Chikane drew that when she was four," Hayate explained. "When we asked her who Himeko was, she replied, 'my lover.'"

Himeko blushed furiously, since with the brutal honesty of a child, Chikane's word choice had definitely implied a sexual relationship.

"When I asked her what she meant, she said, 'when we grow up and meet each other again.' Of course, I put it down as an imaginative child's fantasy, combined with accidental exposure to an inappropriate vocabulary. However..."

She began to remove other pages: finger-paintings, watercolors, sketches, showing an evolution of time and talent as the four-year-old girl became five, six, eight, eleven, and fourteen. Himeko and Chikane in miko vestments, or in normal clothing, standing close or holding hands or, in a couple of scenes, with their hands bound together by red cord or string.

"Chikane never claimed that this Himeko was someone she actually spoke to, like a child's imaginary friend or something, just that this was the person she was going to meet one day in the future and fall in love with."

"But that's unbelievable," Hajime marveled, not actually expressing disbelief but just his amazement at the concept. "How could a child that age know something like that?"

"I...don't understand," Eiko said, looking through the various artwork, then up at her daughter. The later art, done in Chikane's teenage years, skillfully showed Himeko's features as if they'd been drawn from life, and even the earlier ones featured obvious things like her unusual eye color or her ubiquitous bow that she'd worn since she was ten.

"We treated the matter as a bit of a family joke," Hayate continued to explain, "as we supposed it could have been. But when the very real Himeko-chan appeared..." She shrugged. "In all honesty, my primary reason for running a background check on you, Kurusugawa-san, was not to examine your work records but to verify that, indeed, this wasn't an elaborate game that Chikane was playing on us. You must understand that when Himeko-chan walked into the dining room last night I had to suppress the urge to look for hidden cameras." She smiled sheepishly.

"I don't mind saying that I would have preferred that," Seiji spoke up.

"Otousama!"

"I'm not going to lie about it, Chikane. I would have been happier if my daughter didn't have to face the social stigma involved, dealing with the insulting comments and, more significantly, the practical prejudice in business dealings occasioned by the bigots and fools of the world. To say nothing of the consequences of the Himemiya family succession, given that you are not merely my eldest but my only child. So yes, I'd have preferred you choose a boy. Failing that, I'd have preferred a girl from a socially significant family, one with which we could have reached some mutually beneficial association." He shrugged. "But, you were right all along. I'm not stupid enough to try fighting something that was apparently settled when you were in the cradle."

"What I think my husband is getting at is, if we spend our time complaining about the girls' relationship, then we make ourselves part of the problem, the social stigma he talked about. I really don't want Chikane to be looking back on her life one day and think of her mother as 'part of the problem.'"

Himeko's gaze flicked from the Himemiyas to her parents, who didn't seem to know precisely what they were supposed to say. Not that there was much _to_ say at that point, given how neatly they'd been pinned. If they objected to the girls' love on _moral_ grounds, they were declaring themselves to be what Seiji had labeled outright as "bigots and fools." If they tried to fall back on other issues, then they moved into Hayate's "part of the problem." Except that, Himeko realized, they might not even be aware of all of that. They both kept looking at Chikane's pictures, then at Himeko, then back at the pictures.

It was her father who spoke up first.

"Himeko, did you know about this?"

"Chikane-chan didn't tell me that she'd drawn anything. I didn't even know she could sketch! But I knew she'd told her parents about us when she was young."

"That isn't what I meant, Himeko. I was asking, did you know about _her_ before we came here?" He picked up one of the pages, a watercolor of the girls together in what might have been the Ototachibana Academy rose garden.

_Oh. I should have realized that was what he was talking about,_ Himeko thought, feeling a little foolish at having missed it.

"Um...yes, I did."

"You're saying that..." He looked at her, then down at the painting, then over at Chikane, then back at Himeko.

"But you never said anything, Himeko," her mother protested. "You never mentioned Himemiya-san..."

"I thought it would sound crazy," she admitted in a very small voice.

There were times when being an awful liar was actually a good thing. Before now, it was possible she could have talked about Chikane and her parents could have believed it was a delusion (which would have technically not been _lying_, since a deluded person thinks they're telling the truth), but now, in the face of evidence...

Hajime let out a heavy sigh.

"I suppose that isn't unfair. I can barely believe all of this even now. The idea that two girls could be tied together by fate or destiny—that _anyone_ could, really. It's like something out of an old legend, not the modern age. And yet..." he waved his hand at the table. Then a thought seemed to strike him and his eyes lit up.

"My God! When I discussed the move to Mahoroba with Eiko, we had to weigh many factors about uprooting our lives. Shiro was worried about leaving all his friends, and the only life he had ever known. But you...you were happy and excited, Himeko. You didn't have a bad word to say about the move once you were told where it was we were moving _to_!"

"That's right," her mother agreed. "Himeko _was_ completely happy about this move."

Himeko nodded.

"I knew, or at least I assumed, that Mahoroba would be where I'd meet Chikane-chan."

They both shook their heads in disbelief.

"I just don't know what to say," her father marveled. "All this..." He sighed. Hajime was a plain man used to the plain, ordinary life he led. Finding out that his daughter was involved in a lesbian romance—with the heiress of one of Japan's wealthiest families—in a way that had, apparently, been somehow preordained—was completely outside of his experience. Himeko felt sorry for both her parents. Nothing about her had gone as expected, from the relationship itself to the Himemiyas' acceptance and support of it to their reasons for doing so. Himeko could barely keep up with it all herself, and she knew the reasons for it!

"Himeko," he began, taking his wife's hand as he did, "your mother and I are still very disappointed in your allowing this matter to become a public scandal before you informed us about any of this. It caused a great deal of unpleasantness for your family. Though Himemiya-san has accepted the blame for that, there are nonetheless two of you acting together and I will expect proper behavior from you in the future."

"Yes, Otousan."

"Nonetheless, in light of what we've seen her, and as the Himemiya family graciously is offering its support of this unconventional relationship, your mother and I"—he paused and turned to Eiko, who trembled a bit before nodding, clearly still unsure of herself—"will withdraw our objections."

Joy surged over Himeko like a cresting wave.

"Otousan, Okaasan, thank you very much!"

He shook his head.

"I think you should save your thanks for whatever deity is clearly watching out for the two of you."

Chikane's mother began gathering up her daughter's artwork.

"Now, with that settled, I believe that we need to discuss some of the practical aspects of how the families will address the various rumors that have begun. If we can agree on a united front, I believe that it will be easier on all of us. Perhaps Chikane and Himeko-chan would prefer to spend some time together while we talk?"

"Thank you, Okaasama; I believe that would be an excellent suggestion," Chikane said, directing a warm smile at Himeko.

~X X X~

The sound of the back door opening took Kuro's attention away from the game. He ran over to greet the girls as they came out into the yard, then dropped his ball at Himeko's feet and began to hop up on her legs. He barked happily, perhaps sensing her own mood.

"He reminds me of that puppy who once introduced us," Chikane said, "except that he's all black."

"His name is Kuro," Himeko said. "He's my little brother's dog."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kuro-san," Chikane said with mock formality.

"You'd better get used to her, Kuro," Himeko said; "she's going to be here an awful lot."

"I am?"

"Mmn! Now that it's settled that my father's not going to lose his job or anything from us being together, I'm going to make sure that my parents come to learn just how wonderful you are for me."

Chikane smiled wryly.

"I think that may prove to be a tall order, particularly where your mother is concerned. Your father at least seemed to accept that we are fated to be together, but she seems to genuinely dislike the idea."

"It's a little hard for her," Himeko said gamely, making Chikane chuckle. The dark-haired girl picked up the ball, waved it under Kuro's nose to get his attention, then flipped it back towards Shiro. The puppy went barreling pell-mell after it, nearly tumbling over his own feet, before pouncing on the ball and shaking it vigorously. Himeko giggled at the sight.

"Say, Himeko..."

"Yes, Chikane-chan?"

"Don't you think it ironic, what your father said?"

"My father? What did he say?"

"About thanking whatever deity was watching over us." She chuckled softly, not without bitterness. "If only he knew the half of it."

Himeko raised her eyes to the sky. Though it was still early afternoon, she imagined she could see the moon there, looking down on them.

"I don't know, Chikane-chan."

"Eh?"

"Well...I don't remember that far back, and I don't think you do either, but...according to the legend, when Yamata no Orochi arose for the first time, we were the ones who prayed to the gods for help. I mean, it's called _Kannazuki_, right, the 'godless month,' so there shouldn't have been anyone to listen to those prayers. But...Ame no Murakumo did answer us, and granted us power to fight Yamata no Orochi like we still do. And then when Yamata no Orochi is beaten, it's Ame no Murakumo who revives the world through our sacrifice, and who stands sentinel over it forever and ever. I don't know if a god can feel pain or get lonely, but...it can't be easy, existing like that, can it? I can't hate Ame no Murakumo because I was too blind to see your feelings and you were too scared to tell them to me for so long." Himeko smiled at Chikane. "Besides, it's Ame no Murakumo that gives us the chance to be together, through life after life and between times, too."

Chikane chuckled again.

"So you think the God of Swords was looking at us and thought, 'Finally! It's about time they figured it out!'"

Himeko grinned back.

"Well, why not?"

Chikane let out a long sigh, then she smiled too and, like Himeko had, looked up at the sky.

"Why not, indeed?" she murmured. "Maybe you're right, Himeko."

The breeze stirred her bangs, and she combed them back out of her face with her fingers.

"I wonder how one offers a god an apology."

"You're a shrine maiden, Chikane-chan. I think Ame no Murakumo will hear."

"I could always mention it the next time we fight Orochi. Though, I think that may be a long time in coming."

"Eh?"

"It's just a feeling I have. Something seems...different...about this lifetime, somehow."

"I don't really understand," Himeko said, frowning. Chikane shook her head.

"That's all right. It's probably nothing, anyway. Though if I'm ending up the optimist about something, then destiny is not only kind, it also has a sense of humor."

"Well, that's certainly true."

"Himeko!"

Himeko giggled. They were interrupted, then, by Kuro, who had finally figured out that he was supposed to retrieve Shiro's latest throw, but wasn't quite clear on just whom he was supposed to bring it to. He scampered up to Himeko and dropped the ball at her feet.

"Hey, Kuro, come back! You're supposed to fetch it to me!" He ran up to the girls and picked up the ball, then took a second look at Chikane, recognizing that she'd been standing with Himeko for a while. "Um, you're the girl from that limousine, aren't you? Who are you?"

"This is Himemiya Chikane," Himeko introduced her, then added with a happy smile, "She's my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?"

"Mmn!"

Shiro's eyes widened.

"You mean like kissing and stuff?"

"I'm very partial to 'and stuff,'" Chikane teased.

Shiro looked at them suspiciously. "Aren't you supposed to do that with a boy?"

"No," Himeko said firmly, "I am very definitely not supposed to do that with a boy."

Then she turned to Chikane and amply demonstrated her point with a long, warm, loving kiss.

~X X X~

_A/N: Just for the record, when in describing the crayon drawing Chikane's hair is shown as "dark blue," the meaning is that Chikane used dark blue crayon to draw it. Sharp-eyed readers will also observe that when I had Himeko quote the legend of the miko, that was the version from the anime rather than the manga (because, well, that's the version that suits the point I was trying to make in the story!). I defend myself on the grounds that it is, after all, a _legend_, rather than a precise recording of historical facts, and therefore is subject to exaggeration just like any myth. Both versions, after all, conveniently omit the "and then one kills the other to restore the world" part._

_Thank you all very much for reading this far! It's been fun to deal with Himeko and Chikane in a fairly low-key (although occasionally melodramatic) situation, although it also made me realize just how much their characterization is based upon the extreme situations they normally exist in; having Chikane enjoying normal school days is a little like having Jason Bourne as the next-door neighbor in a sitcom!_

_As I noted in the opening author's note, "Red String" is the first story in the hypothetical ongoing sequence of _Ame no Murakumo ga Miteru_. This series isn't a "braided novel" or the like with a specific plotline, but just a developing sequence of slice-of-life moments featuring the cast of canon and original characters. Will there be a second story? Probably so; I've got the idea outlined, at least, but if it happens it'll be at some random time in the future when the _Kannazuki_ bug bites me again. Which it seems to do on a regular basis..._

_Finally, before you leave (No! Don't run off yet!), I'd like you to stop by my profile and offer your opinion on how I used honorifics and other Japanese forms of address in this story. As you've probably noticed, I did not do so in _Kannazuki no Shimai, _but decided to give it a shot here. Did it work to help illustrate the atmosphere and the changing relationships between the characters? Or did it just get in the way and/or call attention to my ignorance? There's a poll up and everything._


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